Family is Forever
by AnarchyTurtle
Summary: What if Bentley had always had a family? And they had always been there, every step of his life.
1. Chapter 1

**Family is Forever**

Hello fellow fanfiction readers. Anarchyturtle here, with a whole new story about Bentley's life, if he had always had a family.

_**After countless months of planning and drafts etc. etc. I think I've finally made a decent story. Anyways enjoy.**_

Family Feuds.

It was another hot sunny day in the summer of 1986, the citizens of Paris were spending their days sunbathing or attempting to cool off. In the heart of the city stood an impressive mansion, easily rivalling the size of a castle. On the third and highest floor, you could see me, Bentley Wiseturtle, sat on a windowsill, head down reading a book (as per usual).

Unlike my mother and father, none of the citizens of Paris knew who I was. My father insisted I stay out of public sight until I was old enough to run his organisation; Le' Empire Revolution. I didn't know much about the organisation that I was apparently going to one day run. All I knew was they had a very high social status, most of the members had a vast amount of wealth and my dad was (by family inheritance) the leader of them. Which he intended to pass down to me, despite me being the youngest out of my brothers.

I shifted slightly in the red armchair I was sat on. Looking out the window I could see the paparazzi taking pictures of a black limousine, which was making its way up our drive. My father got out of it first, clearly noticeable by his jet-black hair, confident expression and like me, he was a green turtle. All his staff marvelled at his spotless black tuxedo, black trousers and shiny black shoes. He always liked to make an impression. His employees (or as I liked to call them – his personal army) were all stood at the black gates where the paparazzi were scrambling to get a photo of my father. My father made a gesture to one of his men at the gate, and I watched as they forced the paparazzi to leave almost instantly, then he walked inside with his maids, bodyguards and "personal army" all surrounding him.

Climbing back into the armchair I continued my reading of '_My Life with the Eskimo' _by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. A very rare book on hunting, I was something of a bookworm, I even asked my father if we could have a library built into the mansion, which he had done straight away.

I came out of my reading trance. Footsteps could be heard distantly. One of my family's many maids' walks in, Natalie, a squirrel, with wavy brown hair dressed in her usual maid uniform.

"Oh Bentley," she spoke in a slight French Accent, "I do wish you'd look presentable."

I looked down at my clothes, unlike my dad; I always kept my shell on. I was wearing my favourite red bowtie and a white sleeveless shirt underneath.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked in my usual nasally voice.

"Well for one, tuck your white shirt in, your father wouldn't want you to look scruffy," she replied picking up books off the floor and returning them to their shelves, "and two, dinner's ready, your father has a big announcement."

I sighed. What a surprise, another so called "big announcement", where my father would make it clear that I was his favourite son and next in line for the Empire. Without another word, I jumped out of my armchair, and made my way downstairs. I walked out into the hallway to see one of my older brother's talking to a maid.

"We'll have to do this again," he laughed sorting out his dinner coat, which was half undone. The maid nodded pulling up her leggings, and then she gasped when she saw me. My brother immediately turned round to see what she was panicking about.

"Oh hey Bentley" he said unfazed.

"Hey Rob." I suppressed a smirk. Even at the young age of seven, I could work out what my older brother did with some of the maids in private. I couldn't expect much more from Rob, we we're polar opposites. He had sandy blonde hair always messy. Like my father he kept his shell off, but only to show off his toned body and six-pack. For some reason I spoke in a 'nerdy' like nasally voice and he had this cool sexy voice that the maids just melted over.

"We heading down to dinner, little bro?" he asked as his maid 'friend' walked off quickly. I nodded. "Don't say anything about Madeleine, alright?" he asked referring to his maid 'friend'. I nodded again. We made our way downstairs together, walking past two of my dad's personal army.

They nodded at me in respect. "Sir" they both chimed in unison, completely ignoring Rob, presumably on my dad's orders. I nodded back quickly and hurried after Rob who didn't take any notice of them.

A maid's led us to the dining room where we greeted our mother.

"Robert! Bentley!" she greeted us enthusiastically, attempting to fake a smile. She had long blonde hair. She was a Galapagos Turtle unlike my father who I believe was a Box Turtle. My mother had removed her shell in place of a snazzy looking dinner dress. Despite her formal attire, there was no denying that she was gaunt looking. Her face said it all. She looked like she hadn't slept for weeks. Although the paparazzi had no clue, it was blatantly obvious that my mother and father no longer loved each other. I sat down at the large dinner table, my father to my left, sitting on a throne like chair next to me, staring down the dinner table like a king. My mother was opposite me ignoring my father and talking to one of the maids, and of course Rob sat on my right, attempting to get as far away from our dad as possible.

"Ah Bentley my favourite!" he announced rather loudly.

"Hey dad" I spoke in barely a whisper not wanting to catch Rob's eye.

It was so awkward with my two older brothers. My father always neglected them in favour of me. Rob didn't let that get between us though. But James (my other brother) was another story.

"Master James, so nice of you to finally join us" said Gautier, a penguin with a posh British accent, he was my dad's right hand man.

James strolled in casually, ignoring everyone at the table. Don't ask me how in science's name this works, but my brother, James, was a hippo. From what my father had told me when I brought the matter up, he told me James was the result of "gene splicing" and that he wanted a much stronger looking animal to be the symbol of our family's organisation, but apparently James had turned out to be a complete failure and my dad turned to me, the only one of his three children who wasn't sleeping with the maid like Rob or had a nasty attitude like James.

James made himself comfortable at the opposite end of the table, staring directly at my father, who was at the other end not taking any notice of him. Pretty hard to do since James was quite an eye sore. Could you imagine a bright pink hippo, with a blue turtle shell? If not do a little bit of gene-splicing and you might get a decent idea.

"We're ready," said my mother to several of our workers and they quickly scurried out the room and came running back several moments later, holding plates of roast potatoes, turkey, vegetables, gravy and even more. My mouth watered at the sight.

"Thank you" said my mother quietly as they placed the food on the table.

"Hurry up!" barked my father, making one of the workers jump.

We grabbed whatever we wanted and dug in. For the majority of our family meal, there was an awkward silence, only occasionally broke by my mother making sure we we're eating enough or Rob offering my mother or me his food since he was full.

As I finished my last roast potato, my father signalled his men (who had quietly entered the room) to crowd around the table, and then he stood up. I lowered my head and stared at the leftover food in front of me as he tapped the side of his glass lightly with a fork to get everyone's attention.

"Now," he said clasping his hands together, "I have an announcement to make." My mother stared at the portraits on the walls, clearly bored. I could see James at the corner of my eyes, staring back and forth at my father and I, his dark hazel eyes, giving off the stare of pure loathing. Rob attempted to be polite and listen, but kept staring down at the table.

"Bentley, as you all know is the next in the line to the Empire" my father spoke, patting me on the back.

"William," said my mother softly, "don't do this."

"Silence Margaret" he spoke in barely a whisper but everyone heard him. My mother got up and left, followed quickly by James who threw his plate on the floor and finally Rob, who said a quick goodbye to me before leaving.

My father continued as though no interruption had happened.

"Though it may be eleven years from now, when you reach the age of eighteen Bentley, you shall be ready to take my place as the heir to our family's empire."

All his workers burst into a round of applause. A Gorilla, who I believed was called Quinton, nodded at me approvingly.

My father began pacing back and forth behind my chair, "although you know very little of our.. business," he had a small smirk on his face, which his other colleagues seemed to share, "you shall eventually learn all that we do. These men as you know are at your every command," he gestured to his personal army, who all stood proud, "our Empire has had a mass effect on France, as I'm sure you aware Bentley." I nodded. "Most of the population speaks English now, thanks to our influence, and our fortune is more vast than ever. 6.7 Billion."

In the corner of the room, one of my dad's workers whistled. I knew him, his name was Valentine, A eighteen year old raccoon and one of Rob's friend's who he met in high school, after graduation Valentine came to work here and eventually started living at the mansion too. He had nothing to do with my father's empire though, just a cleaner at the mansion really.

"Anyway," said my father, getting everyone's attention again, "On the August 17th, there's going to be a bit of party here." Everyone's ears pricked up at that. My father's parties were exclusive, massive, all you can eat and of course free alcohol. "I want you Bentley, to greet each and everyone of my Empire's 'Inner Circle'." I gulped and nodded slowly, I'm unbelievably shy (a trait I presumably inherited from mother) and yet my father was planning to make me meet all these new people. These secretive, powerful people put me on edge. "Well that'll be all," said my father dismissing his audience, "Bentley, you may leave."

I got up straight away and left quickly. Walking up the first staircase, I was just about to keep heading upwards, when I heard faint voices beneath me. I peered over the landing and saw my mother and father alone.

"You can't do this Will," she spoke in a hushed whisper, "It's not fair on Rob or James."

"Margaret," he chuckled softly before checking to see if anyone was around, "do you really think I care what's fair with those two failures?"

My mother slapped him across the face. I gasped and Gautier came out of the dining room.

"Anything the matter Sir? Madam?" he spoke looking back and forth between my mother and father, staring slightly at my father's red mark on his face.

"No, Gautier, thank you very much," said my father, acting as if nothing has just happened. My mother stalked off out of sight and I continued my journey back to the library.

I was told most of the time, I was extremely fortunate to have a rich family and everything I ever wanted, but I didn't want that if it meant having an insanely dysfunctional family. I'd rather have a poor but loving family than what I was stuck with now.

On the second floor, I saw James speaking quietly with members of my dad's personal army. One of the tapped him on the shoulder to point out I was staring and he turned to me.

"Problem?" he asked glaring at me. I began to stutter until one of the older maids, Louise, saved me.

"Come along Bentley," she spoke smiling, then she turned to James, "very big of you, intimidating someone eleven years younger than you," before quickly leading me upstairs. I ran back to the library, narrowly avoiding another nasty confrontation with James.

I woke up at about three in the morning. I was sat bolt upright, dripping in sweat; I'd had another nightmare. Grabbing my red Elmo teddy, I quickly left my bedroom and made my way to the second floor below me. Knocking lightly on Rob's bedroom door, I could hear him and Valentine talking inside. Rob opened it and looked down to see me, holding my Elmo teddy.

"You okay Ben?" he asked me.

"Bad dream," I replied shaking, "can I sleep in your room please?"

"No need to ask," he said letting me in.

Valentine nodded to me and despite the fact he wasn't working a night shift, he went to go get me a sleeping bag. I stared at something in Rob's hand, looked like a cigarette except slightly longer; it smelt of something I didn't recognise.

"What do you have a bad dream about?" he asked, his eyes going slightly redder as he inhaled on the thing in his hand.

"Mother and Father getting a divorce" I replied, receiving the sleeping bag from Valentine who had just re-entered the room.

Rob laughed slightly, "can't see how that's a bad dream," he said, "I'd be out of here in a second with mom if that happened."

"Why do they fall out so much?" I asked. He looked away immediately as though he was hiding something. Valentine looked uncomfortable, like this was a personal matter that didn't involve him and he left the room without another word.

Rob looked at Bentley again, and then finally spoke. "Something happened many years ago, a decade before you were born actually." I nodded quickly. "This is going to be a bit of a shock to you and you've got to promise me you don't go telling mom and dad where you heard this."

"I promise" I replied.

After a long pause, he looked me straight in the face. "We have a fourth brother."

Outside we could both hear Valentine stumble over something.

"What I- When?" I stammered it had to be a joke. Never in seven years of living here had I heard anything about a fourth brother.

"His name was Michael," Rob said, "born a few years before me and James, fifteen years before you" he added hastily, wondering whether it was a good idea to continue or not.

"What happened to him?" I asked curiously.

"On his sixth birthday back in 1969, he excused himself from the party mom and dad had arranged for him, made his way upstairs and.. to be quite blunt, murdered a maid who was looking after me at the time, I was only one."

"Why?"

"No one really knows," Rob replied ruffling his blonde hair, "probably had some disorder or another, could of killed me too" he added as an afterthought.

Questions poured into Bentley's brain at once. Who was he? Where was he? Why did his mother and father never mention anything about him? Rob took one look at Bentley, who looked more scared than ever.

"Anyways I should stop," Rob said hastily, "I'm gonna give you more nightmares. Valentine you can come back in."

The following day, I was in the library. But it wasn't normal books I was looking for. It was anything to do with my family history. I must have gone through dozens of aisles before coming across a brown leathered back saying – _"The Wiseturtle Legacy". _Looking around to make sure I was truly alone, I grabbed it off my shelf and found a corner in the massive library to hide. Blowing dust of the cover, I opened it and flipped through till I found any mentions of my so-called fourth brother. The book was written in 1975, three years before my own birth, so it might not mention Michael. Then I stopped dead on a page, with the chapter in bold black writing:

"_**Michael John Wiseturtle"**_.

"_Born on October 31st 1963, Michael was a very quiet child. Most considered him a mute, barely ushering a word. Many will of course remember these times, when there was a woman on the loose, poisoning children, which the Police never found the suspect, but that is neither here nor there."_

"_It can be noted, by paparazzi, members of staff, and the occasional dinner guest that William Wiseturtle (Michael's father) grew less attached to his first son as the years went by. Possibly, he was embarrassed by his son's (supposed) disorder."_

"_On October 31st 1969, Michael was sat silently at his birthday table. His mother and father we're throwing a huge party for his sixth birthday. Notable guests, such as Gautier Broussard (the family's most loyal servant) and Leonard Dubois (William Wiseturtle's business partner) noted that Michael seemed to be staring blankly into space for several moments before making his way upstairs."_

"_No one seemed to realise Michael had vanished from his birthday party. Moments later, a scream could be heard from the second floor. Everyone raced up there, only to find the maid dead, Robert Wiseturtle (William Wiseturtle's third son) lying on the floor crying and Michael in a catatonic state."_

"_Most people refused to believe a six year old had murdered the maid. But the evidence was overwhelming. In mid-November after a short hearing, Michael was sent to Gustav Pierre's' Asylum for rehabilitation. It's questionable why Michael's father (who was well known for his astronomical wealth) sent his son to an asylum with a bad name for itself. The methods the psychiatrists used to help the inmates were debatable to say the very least."_

I stopped reading. My heart was hammering in his chest. I carefully placed the book back where it was originally and sat down on the armchair taking deep breaths. For the first time in my life, I was happy to be my father's favourite. Thoughts of seeing my secret fourth brother in the flesh gave my stomach a pleasurable squirm.

It was two days from my father's upcoming party. I was sat on a table next to Gautier and the rest of the work staff who were busy making preparations for the party.

"Master Bentley. Could you please stop climbing on the tables, we're trying to get everything ready." Said Gautier.

"Sorry" I replied jumping off it watching my dad walk in, "could you please get my book of the table?" I asked.

"Certainly Sir." Gautier nearly dropped the book in fright when he read the title. "Master Bentley where did you find this?" he asked, visibly concerned as my father walked over.

"Gautier, I trust everything's coming along smoothly," my father asked not noticing the book in his servant's hands.

"Ye-Yes Sir," he replied, "erm- somehow this book came into the possession of Master Bentley" he whispered, discreetly showing the title: _"The Wiseturtle Legacy"._

My father's black eyes strained on the title, then he looked me dead in the face.

"Bentley, who gave this you?" he asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

"No one, I found it in the library" I replied trying to sound carefree, "who's Michael?"

"Nothing of your concern, I assure you" he answered, half stuttering, making an awkward laughing sound.

"He's my oldest brother isn't he? Can I meet him?" I asked with pleading eyes.

Both my father and Gautier exchanged dark looks, "I don't think that's a good idea Bentley, your brother, well he's not normal anymore."

"Don't care," I retorted quite bluntly, "I want to meet him, please? For me?" I begged with a fake whimper.

My father looked around, desperately trying to think of an excuse, "W-well alright, I suppose, but just this once."

It had taken some doing for my father to talk my mother into letting me go to this asylum to see my oldest brother.

The car journey there was somewhat awkward. My mother and father were still not on friendly speaking terms; the only slight conversation made was from Gautier.

"Another left Sir?" He asked driving carefully through the thick woods.

"That's right Gautier" my dad replied, eying the area in suspicion.

After a few more moments of navigating our way through the dark path, a dark black building came into sight at the centre of the woods. The place looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years, not a soul was in sight. Looked more like a haunted house than anything else.

My mother looked at me pleadingly, "Bentley are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

All I did was nod. A balding rat exited the asylum, striding over to our limousine his white uniform stained in what was presumably blood, he looked furious.

"You have no right being here!" he bellowed, we hadn't even got out of the limousine yet, "I demand you leave right this insta- M-Master Wiseturtle, I had no idea you were coming."

My father had stepped out of the limousine; he sorted out the creases in his formal wear before even acknowledging the man in front of him.

"Short notice Lector," said my father with a look of superiority on his face, "My son Bentley, wants to meet his oldest brother."

The man named Lector, hesitated for a moment, but didn't dare look like he was going to refuse my father. I waited in the back of the limousine with my mother clutching my hand tightly. Gautier tapped his fingers on the steering wheel whilst humming. Both Lector and my father spoke in hushed whispers for several moments until finally, we were allowed to enter the asylum.

Gautier waited in the limousine, whilst my mother, my father and me were lead to Michael's room. We walked passed several of the inmates, most were crouched in their rooms, clearly in catatonic states. Dr. Lector walked over to the receptionist of the place, who was sat eating with some of the other doctors.

"Nurse Joy, we need the key to Michael Wiseturtle's room."

The nurse eyed us all suspiciously before pulling a key out of the drawer beneath her desk.

"Certainly Doctor. These people er- family?" She asked handing him the key.

"That's right. This way Mr Wiseturtle." Said Lector, making his way up a flight of stairs.

We followed him to the second floor. I heard my mother whimper slightly as we made our way down a dimly lit hallway. Lector suddenly stopped.

"Here." Said Lector, peering through the small window on a door before pulling out his key. I still couldn't see my brother.

The door clicked open and we slowly made our way inside.

"Don't worry he's restrained" said my father.

The room had barely any light with only one dingy little window; grime was covering the ceiling and walls. Then in the centre of the room was this behemoth of a turtle lying on the bed. At the very least seven foot tall. He had brown hair which was shoulder length, his facial hair was all over the place, he was barely recognisable underneath it, only his black eyes were distinct, he had inherited them from my father. Even though there were many restraints holding him down, he looked as though he could break free with a few short seconds; his stained overalls were ripped apart at his shoulders and arms, from his gigantic muscles. God knows how he was this muscular. My mother was the last to walk in, stalling slightly at the door. She could barely look at her long forgotten son. Was this the reason my mother and father hated each other?

Dr. Lector tapped Michael lightly on the shoulder, "Michael?" he asked quietly, "Michael?" My oldest brother was staring up at the grimy ceiling; I doubt he even knew we had entered his room. Then he jerked his head in our direction, my mother gasped.

Dr. Lector hardly looked alarmed, "Michael, your mother and father have come to see you, and your youngest brother. His name is Bentley."

Michael fixated his black eyes on me; it was like staring down two dark tunnels. I was actually glad to have glasses on; my father made sure I had a one-way mirror like feature on them. Then, my older brother started struggling against his restraints. I stumbled backwards as Dr. Lector attempted to control him. My mother grabbed hold of me, as several doctors rushed in, injecting my older brother left, right and centre. He stopped struggling and took one last look at me before passing out unconscious.

"Right, shall we go?" Asked my father, though it was more of a command.

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of there by both my parents. Once outside, Gautier opened the doors of the limousine for us, before being told to get back to the manor quickly.

In the backseat my father was keeling over slightly, his hands clasped together.

"I knew I shouldn't of let you come here Bentley." He said shaking his head, "thank god you were born, you're nothing like your other brothers."

I didn't respond as he patted my baldhead. I was lost in my thoughts. What was wrong with Michael? Were there other members of my family I didn't even know about?

"Bentley wake up!"

I yawned loudly, before grabbing my glasses off the table next to my bed. My eyes adjusted to my surroundings to see Amelia, a black cat in her twenties (and one of the maids) holding a small tuxedo.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Ten o' clock," she replied, "your father wants to see you in this and then he wants to inform you of tonight's party."

I groaned. It was already the seventeenth. Tonight was the 'so called' big night where I meet my father's closest associates. But to be honest, I couldn't care less.

"Also your uncle Seymour is here" she added with a smile as I bolted upright.

I leapt out of bed and ran straight past her. Despite my not so great physical shape, I managed to sprint all the way downstairs, until I saw my uncle greeting my father. He was wearing his police uniform, he didn't even need a bulletproof vest his turtle shell was thick enough. He took his hat off, revealing his greying brown hair. Unlike my father's black eyes, his eye colour was a light blue. It had been a while since I had last seen him; he was now sporting a thick brown moustache.

"Uncle!" I yelled bolting towards him and jumping into a massive hug.

"Bentley!" He said returning the hug.

Rob appeared on the landing above us. Ignoring my father, he greeted our uncle. A smile formed on my father's face.

"Seymour, I have some great news," said my father approaching me slowly, "Bentley here, is becoming the heir to my organisation. My favourite son."

Once again Rob ignored our father and walked off. My Uncle's friendly smile dropped immediately. He pulled my father aside and began to speak as quietly as possible.

"William! Brother! I really don't know what to say to you, but you're going to destroy your family if you continue, you and father's empire," said my uncle clearly disgusted at him. They both uncle turned to me.

"Bentley get out of here," said my uncle through gritted teeth, "I'll talk to you in a few minutes."

I opened the door to Rob's room to find both him and Valentine packing their bags and grabbing as much money as they could. Neither of them noticed me walk in.

"Where will we go?" asked Valentine, zipping up his last backpack.

"Rent a flat, meet some new peop-" My brother stopped talking when he saw me.

"Where are you going?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Wherever" replied Rob, opening the window, "you know I've always wanted to be free, no time like the present."

"Rob, you can't leave just because of father," I told him.

"I'm not going to leave forever, I'll come back and see you sometime," he tried to reassure me.

"We need to hurry," said Valentine hastily.

Rob turned to me.

"Bentley, you have to promise me, you're not going to tell mom or dad," he said.

I took one last look at my brother, dead set on leaving this mansion for good.

"Just make sure you come back soon" was all I said as the two of them jumped out of the window.

I made careful note to lock Rob's door and not mention a word to anyone. Both my uncle and father were still standing in the hall as I made my way downstairs. They didn't seem to be arguing.

"Bentley, your uncle has kindly offered to take you hunting," said my father, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Your dad tells me you keep reading a lot about hunting." Added my uncle, both pairs of eyes on me.

"Erm yeah," I replied, "I'd love to come hunting."

"Excellent," said my father, "but much later Seymour, Bentley first needs to meet members of the Empire."

My stomach gave a slight jolt.

My uncle made his way to the front door before saying one last thing.

"I'll bring you camo-wear and what not, just be ready around ten."

"Master Bentley, you look excellent, your father would be proud." Said Gautier as I entered the main room for the party. They had pretty much emptied an unused ballroom and filled the place with alcohol, food, tables and chairs. All the staff burst into a round of applause as I entered in the small tuxedo Amelia had given me.

Feeling embarrassed, I exited the party room and walked straight into my father.

"Right Bentley, the guests will be arriving in about an hour or so."

I nodded, still nervous.

"You're going to meet members of my inner circle," he added, straightening his tie.

"Erm, how many are there?" I asked.

"Around twenty."

"Are they scary?"

"Haha, Bentley, only to the people who are against us." Said my father with a sly smile.

This was it. The ground level of the mansion was packed. From the first floor landing, I could clearly see at least forty people in the main hallway. My father exited the ballroom and headed straight up the stairs to me.

"Bentley, it's time." He said.

With my legs shaking like mad, I walked with my father to (thankfully) a secluded hallway. Then my mother appeared in front of us.

"You haven't seen Rob have you?" she asked, mainly looking at me.

I shook my head straight away, wanting to keep his promise.

"Oh, I do hope he's alright," said my father in a toneless voice, "now get out of our way."

I gave my mother a sympathetic look and continued following my father, till we came to a halt outside two large wooden doors.

"Go on Bentley" he said patting me on the back.

I gulped and entered the room. Inside, it was clearly an old fashioned room where conferences were held. About twenty men were all sat down at a rectangular black table. They all watched me, as both my father and I entered the room. The only source of light was the fire place behind the table.

"Bentley, time for a little introduction. These are the men, you'll be working with for the rest of your life." Said my father walking over to his personal army.

He walked over to a very old looking rhino. He had a series of wrinkles all over his face and a walking stick in his left hand as he stood up.

"This is Aldric, the eldest member of our organisation. He used to work with your granddad, although you didn't know him." Said my father, trying to explain quickly.

Aldric shook my hand.

"Great man," said Aldric wheezing slightly, "shame he died so early. Made the right choice, picking you William over your idiot brother to run the Empire." Several members of the organisation laughed amongst themselves, I felt my temper rise slightly.

My father walked over a rooster, who was counting a mass amount of money in his hands.

"This here, is Edgar, one of our youngest members and very well off." Said my father.

"Unlike some" added Edgar looking around the room at some other members. Half of the men began laughing again, the other half got up and left. Among them I saw, Quentin (the gorilla) shaking his head at the laughing members, the rest of the leaving members shared smug looks for some strange reason. They exit the room and I could have sworn I saw James waiting for them outside.

My father raised his hand and the laughter died at once.

"Now then, let's continue" he said walking over to two moles, "this here is Leonard and Gilbert, identical twins." Both the moles simultaneously adjusted their glasses and gave me an approving nod, before peering back down to the worksheets on the table.

My father was about to introduce a very psycho looking wolf to me, when my uncle walked in. Several members began to snigger.

"Will, it's time." He said, ignoring the smug looking men around him.

"I'm still introducing Bentley to my empire," my father replied, empathising the 'my' part a bit.

"I can meet them later," I suggested wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible.

"W-Well, okay then Bentley" said my father, never wanting to let his heir down.

"Thanks, I'll see you soon." I replied scurrying out the room to follow my uncle.

"What do you think of your dad's empire," said my uncle as soon as we were out of earshot.

"Snobbish." I replied attempting to keep up with him.

He laughed, and then I remembered what Aldric had said.

"Hey uncle, did you ever want the empire?" I asked.

My uncle stopped dead in his tracks.

"It didn't really matter if I did or not," he replied, "your granddad always favoured your dad over me, caused our mom to get a divorce and pretty much tore the family apart. It's always been like this for generations, way before I was born."

"But, did you want the empire?"

"No I wanted a career less corrupt" he said, probably accidentally since he gasped straight after. Before I could ask him what he meant, my mother appeared round the corner, slightly watery eyed.

"Have you seen Rob at all? He's gone missing." She asked us both, inbetween sobbing.

"Wait I just remembered, Rob told me he was partying for a bit with Valentine and a few mates, they'll both be back later" I lied, attempting to stop her from crying.

She gave a sigh of relief. "Oh that's good," she said wiping stray tears off her face, "you taking him hunting now Si?"

Great, now what will I do when the night's over and Rob still hasn't returned.

"That's right" he replied smiling, "I'll just go start the car." He exited the main doors and I turned to my mother.

She grabbed my fluffy jacket and hugged me.

"Be careful Bentley. I'll see you at the end."

Just so you know, I'm doing incredibly long chapters, so there's not as many.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. Also I'm curious whether your allowed to change from 1st person to 3rd person occasionally in stories, does anyone know?

**Until then, thank you and goodbye.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Family is Forever**

**Hello again fellow fanfiction members, **

**First off I'd like to thank "BananaB0mb" for my first review. Haha, if your thinking of ridiculous scenarios you've probably got a good guess :p, also check out his awesome story "Like Family".**

**Also, heads up, I am changing POV from Bentley's to either his Uncles or Third Person at some point in the story, I haven't decided yet but it's worth mentioning.**

**On with the second chapter!**

Bentley's Background

I shivered slightly as I stepped out of my uncle's police car. The Forest of Fontainebleau looked spooky at night.

"U-Uncle, I'm not sure if I can do it" I stammered putting on the camouflage jacket, he'd brought along for me.

"Do what?" he asked grabbing his crossbow out of the boot of his car.

"K-Kill all those poor defenceless animals" I replied, I really didn't think this through when he asked me to come hunting with him.

To my surprise he just laughed. "We're not doing this fun or sport Bentley," he said softly, "the government want this place destroyed, all the remaining deer will be crushed in the destruction, it's not a bad thing to give them quick painless deaths." He held up his crossbow, locking the bolt into place.

"Will you take care of the first few?" I asked.

"Of course."

For the next few minutes we spent our time crouching few the bushes, I would occasionally spot a deer and close my eyes as my uncle took them out with solid blows through the neck.

"Uncle, why is it some animals, l-like us, have developed intelligence, yet others haven't?" I asked indicating to the primitive deer a few yards away from us.

He fired another bolt and we watched the deer hit the ground with a thud.

"I'm not too sure Bentley, scientists have been trying to figure it out for years."

"Couldn't my dad have his men work on it, I know there a powerful organisation, it could really help the world." I pondered out loud.

"Don't think that's his primary goal in life," said my uncle.

I could tell he was still thinking about what was said earlier, about him never inheriting the empire. Would I be like that in later life? Would I be awkwardly greeting my brothers or never speaking to them again?

"Uncle, why is my father so mean to everyone around him, except me?" I asked, squinting in the dark forest.

I could hear my Uncle reloading in front of me then he began to speak.

"He wasn't always like that- Which I know is hard to believe, our father raised him to take the empire and shun everyone else, and told him, once he was old enough, he would have to have a son to continue the legacy."

I gulped. "Did you ever take much part in the empire's business?" I asked.

"Nah, after I turned eighteen, I decided to become a police officer, haven't changed since." He crouched down to take aim at another deer. Another shot was fired. Another thud hit the ground, several yards away.

"How long have you been a police officer?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation casual. I was still panicking about the dilemma with Rob running away.

"Twenty eight years this September."

"Wow! What's it like?"

"Er- great," he replied, clearly trying to sound cheerful.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Never mind. It's a bit complicated." He answered.

"I'm sure I can keep up."

My Uncle sighed and relaxed his stance slightly.

"Bentley, you've got to promise me not to mention a word about this to your dad," he said, looking around nervously to check if we were truly alone. I nodded quickly.

"Do you know what the word 'corrupt' means?" He asked slowly. I nodded again.

"Well, chances are most of my fellow employees are corrupt. I can't do anything about it either."

"Doesn't my father have some control over the police?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Well then, why doesn't he look into it?"

My Uncle sighed, "I have no idea, it's beside the point anyway. I'm still unsure what to do at work."

There was a brief silence for a moment before I thought of something.

"Hey Uncle, have you ever heard of the term 'vigilante' before?" I asked, knowing he might not like this.

"Yes." He replied, staring me down curiously.

"Well, have you ever considered becoming one?"

There was another brief silence, before my uncle laughed a little bit.

"Bentley, I'm going to take a guess you got your view of right and wrong from your dad. Vigilantes are just as bad as criminals like Connor Cooper and don't even get me started with him!" He was almost shouting.

"I-It's just, if everyone in your department is corrupt, then why don't you take matters into your own hands?" I asked timidly, "I mean, if you're breaking the law for a good reason then you're not truly a criminal. I'd bet my shell there's plenty of people within the government who are completely corrupt."

Another short awkward silence followed before my uncle started to smile.

"I don't think your dad was lying when he said you were a child prodigy."

I smiled, before spotting a deer just ahead of us. It had stopped to drink at the stream and hadn't noticed us. The poor thing is going to get killed when the government decide to destroy the place. I guess that's what my uncle and me were here for.

"Hey Uncle, can I have a go of the crossbow?"

"Yeah. Sure." He replied looking around to spot the deer drinking. He crouched down to hand me the crossbow. I've read about crossbows, from my opinion they were much better from ordinary firearms. Quick. Silent. They were in no way loud like most other weapons.

I peeped out of bushes to see the deer still drinking absent-mindedly. Aiming down the sights of the crossbow, I had to push up my glasses to see more clearly. Perfect precision is key.

The bolt soared through the air. Everything seemed to slow down. Then I saw a squirt of scarlet come out of the deer's neck and it collapsed to the floor dead.

"Nice." Said my uncle.

"If one more driver run's a red light I'm gonna pull them over, off duty or not." Said my uncle.

We we're on our way back to my house. I was thinking desperately what to say when Rob didn't return. Maybe my mother would just believe he'd stayed over at one of his friend's house for the night. Then I remembered something else that worried me, my father and his personal army were probably waiting for me when I got back.

"Do you hear sirens Bentley?" asked my uncle looking in the rear view mirror.

"Erm- No I don't think s-" Before I could respond multiple fire engines came swerving down the lane and sped past us, sirens blazing.

"Good god," said my uncle stroking his moustache, "may Aswell get you home quickly and then see what all the fuss is about." He sighed. "Another late night at the station I'm guessing."

"Please by all means take your time, I really don't want to see any of my father's friends for a while." I said bitterly.

My uncle just laughed. "Lovely people" he added grinning.

Before I could laugh at his sarcasm, several police cars came speeding past us, sirens also blazing.

"What on earth could be going on?" said my uncle.

"Probably a sale on donuts" I replied absent-mindedly.

My uncle however didn't laugh and put his sirens on to follow his fellow officers.

"What's up?" I asked. I couldn't really be taken to a crime scene. Then I realised what he had seen in the distance. There was a mansion burning down to the ground, sirens could be seen vaguely at the location. It was my family's mansion….

(A/N – Take note, I'm changing to third person for a bit before returning to Bentley's POV)

Uncle Seymour skidded to a halt at the raging inferno that used to be his brother's home. Not even bothering to ask what happened he ran straight towards the crumbling mansion.

"Seymour, what the hell are you doing?" yelled one of the police officers.

"My family's in there!" he shouted running head on through the flames.

Miraculously he was quick enough to avoid severe burns, but the sight outside was nothing compared to the inside. Despite all his experience, he dropped to his knees to find his sister-in-law's burnt corpse.

Margaret Wiseturtle just lay there, unmoving, burnt all over. There was a sad sort of look in her lifeless eyes.

"Margaret?" he screamed, already knowing she was long dead.

He couldn't let Bentley see her. The building was on the verge of collapse, he needed to escape, and then he spotted something next to Margaret's body. Kneeling down quickly, he picked up the infamous calling card of none other than Connor Cooper.

"You son of a bitch" he whispered softly before fleeing from the crumbling mansion. Unable to believe the thief he had chased for years had become a murderer.

(A/N Back to Bentley's POV)

I couldn't believe it. It couldn't of happened. It couldn't. My Uncle emerged from the fire. No one was with him…

He handed something small and blue to a fellow police officer before running back to the car.

"Bentley, I couldn't find Rob, James or your father, I think they're safe," he said pulling me into a massive bear hug.

"And what about my mother?" I asked, tears starting to roll my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Bentley," he replied, his voice cracking slightly.

We could have been there for hours, I didn't know. All I knew was I was crying freely into his chest. Till my eyes were beyond swollen and I was finally accepting the truth that my mother was gone forever.

I was sat at the local police station, being seen to by the police. Whilst my uncle was in the other room talking to his fellow officers, I was shaking uncontrollably trying to process fully what had happened.

Eventually he asked me to enter his office, where his boss was waiting. Barely being able to move, I was escorted inside and the three of us were left alone.

"Bentley," said my uncle softly, "there's no easy way to say this, but we both need to go into hiding. The perpetrators who attacked your home could come after us."

"W-where will we go?" I asked, "what about Rob, my father and James?"

"We're looking for them now. In the meantime, I've arranged for you to stay at a local orphanage for a while before we locate them." He replied placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Wait a minute? An orphanage? I'm staying with you!" I said fiercely.

"No, your not Bentley," he replied, his lip quivering slightly, "I need to get you into hiding, in the meantime, I'll flee the country."

"Shouldn't I be fleeing Aswell?" I asked.

"No, they'll be expecting that. The last place they'd expect you to be is still in Paris. But we need to delete your birth records, background, surname, everything, as far as the media should know, William Wiseturtle's fourth son perished in that fire."

His boss nodded. I began to sob again.

"Hey. Bentley, don't worry, we're going to get through this. You'll be out of the orphanage in no time, once our family's been reunited."

I sniffled a little, but nodded.

It was nearing sunrise as me and my uncle approached the place known as the 'Happy Camper Orphanage'. I didn't want to stay in this place for long, not without my family. The orphanage was made of wood, three floors high (by the looks of it) and was fairly distant from the heart of Paris. Surrounded mainly by fields, except for this winding country lane.

"I'm going to come in and sort everything out with the owner of the orphanage, then I'll be leaving for a little while." Said my uncle not meeting my teary eyes.

Next thing I knew I was being picked up and carried towards the front doors of the orphanage by my uncle. I wanted to run, or refuse to leave my uncle, but he would have neither.

He walked up the wooden steps to front door and knocked lightly, presumably not to wake the orphans. After a few moments, a dark blue aging female bird opened the door, shocked to see a police officer at her doorstep this early.

"Can I help you?" she asked, sounding quite stern.

"Yes, I'm officer Wiseturtle," said my uncle.

"I'm Ms. Puffin, by any chance are you related to the William Wiseturtle?" she asked curiously checking to see if anyone else was with us.

"Er- yes, look, could we come inside please? There's a lot to discuss."

"So Bentley here has to take on a whole different background?" Asked Ms. Puffin for the umpteenth time. We were sat in her office, whilst my uncle was busy discussing the situation to Ms. Puffin; I was hanging my head in shame. The last thing I told my mother was a lie. I told her Rob would return home that very night and she believed me; sound's pathetic I know, but now she was gone, that irreversible guilt had kicked in.

"Yes," replied my uncle, "it's imperative his background remains a secret, one, so the perpetrators responsible for his mother's death don't track him down and two, for the sake of social stigma."

"Indeed," said Ms. Puffin printing off new records for my background. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Bentley, who no longer has a surname, was delivered to the orphanage anonymously as an egg." My Uncle nodded taking in every word, I still hung my head. "It will take some doing, but I'll help convince the other orphans that Bentley, has lived here his entire life. Now what's his date of birth?"

"December 16th 1978" replied my Uncle.

"Seven years of age. What school did he go to before tonight?"

"Er, none, he was home tutored." Replied my uncle.

"If you still believe it's dangerous for Bentley to come out of hiding then I'll make arrangements for him to start third grade at a local school."

"Thank you" said my uncle, before getting up and shaking Ms. Puffin's feathery hand.

"Chances are Bentley, you'll be out of here in no time, but remember to keep your head down and stick to your new story." Said my Uncle, before hugging me once last final time and leaving the orphanage. I watched him drive off till his vehicle was just a spec in the distance. Ms. Puffin took me to my new room on the third floor.

All the orphans were still asleep, I couldn't even think of sleeping, not after what had happened. I was left in a dingy room with three beds all to myself. It took a few hours before I cried myself to sleep ready to start my life a new at the orphanage.

It took a few weeks for me to start talking again. I came to the conclusion that my mother wouldn't want me moping around for the rest of my life. The orphans were shocked to see me, but (being so young and gullible) believed Ms. Puffin's story.

Nonetheless this didn't mean I was their friend. My mother's death had left even more shut-in, timid and shy.

My alarm clock went off. I groaned softly. It was September 3rd. That meant I would be starting my first day at the local primary school. I was beyond nervous and with good reason…

"Hey look everyone, it's four-eyes!" yelled a nine year old bear as I entered the orphanage's cafeteria. Everyone laughed. I ignored them and quickly got my breakfast. Trying not to cry, I ate my egg in an eggcup whilst everyone threw stuff at me.

I couldn't handle this. I had gone from protected son of William Wiseturtle to the kid, which everyone bullies. My uncle had called occasionally but said that I still needed to remain in hiding. I was already dreading my first day at school.

A loud horn came from outside, indicating the School Bus had arrived. My stomach did a somersault. Wiping off the egg yoke and everything else, which had been thrown at me, I grabbed my new school bag and lunch box and prepared for the first day of school.

"Hello Class my name is Miss Spencer. If you would, please open your new books and write down the date."

_September 3__rd__ 1986 _I wrote in tidy handwriting. My ears pricked up when I heard my name being repeated several times. I didn't dare turn round, but I knew it was that squirrel that lived at the Happy Camper Orphanage with me. He hated me the second he learnt I wasn't very good at sports.

"Now today class we'll be learning basic punctuation," she turned to face me, "oh, and for those who do not know, this is Bentley." She gestured towards me. The squirrel and his friends began shouting things.

"Settle down, I want you to make him feel welcome." Said Miss Spencer airily.

"Don't worry about that!" Shouted the squirrel, making his friends laugh.

"Be quiet Jamie! Now class turn to page 26."

I could hear Jamie and his friends sniggering amongst themselves. _Oh no… _

"Bentley, what happened?" asked Ms. Puffin as I returned home from school.

My face was bruised and I had a slightly bent nose.

"Dodge ball," I replied quietly, knowing what that squirrel would do if I told on him.

She looked me up and down for any signs of lies. Then took me to her office to get me patched up.

Before long my face looked okay.

"Be careful in sports next time," she said putting her first aid kit back.

Suddenly one of the other workers walked in, I recognised him as scary John the janitor.

"Ma'am, someone's here with an orphan," he spoke in a gruff voice.

"Bring him in," she ordered, forgetting I was there.

He nodded and in came a social worker, and then a smaller boy. At first I thought it was James, but this pink hippo was much younger, he was less muscular.

"Name of the boy?" asked Ms. Puffin, already sat at her desk.

"Murray. Murray Hippo." Replied the social worker.

Okay guys that chapter 2. Much shorter than the first but oh well.

**I hope Bentley's thoughts and feelings were realistic when his mother died.**

**Also, Bentley's family will become a central plot point later on, but for now the next few chapters or so will be centred on Bentley's orphan years.**

**Thank you for reading my story :)**

**Feedback is much appreciated and inspiring.**


	3. Chapter 3

Family is Forever

Can't even be bothered doing an introduction.

Here's the third chapter, in all its Notepad glory.

Chapter 3

Brains and Brawn

It was like looking at James, but there were deliberate mistakes. This Murray boy had the same hazel eyes, only much more friendly looking. Like all orphans who arrived here, he looked pretty shaken up.

"Full name?" asked Ms. Puffin.

"Murray James Hippo" replied the social worker.

"Date of birth?"

"September 10th 1978."

"Status of both parents?" asked Ms. Puffin in a bored voice.

"Both passed away last night," said the social worker lightly. I saw Murray looking down at his feet, crying.

"Very well," said Ms. Puffin, storing his document in her cabinet, "you'll be bunking with Bentley." She gestured towards me.

The Hippo stared at me for a few seconds and attempted a weak smile. It was really weird, like a younger version of James had joined me at the orphanage.

Ms. Puffin led us up to the third floor and left us to meet each other. The hippo however didn't speak to me; he just fell straight asleep on his bed.

The next day (and my second dreaded day at school), I woke up to find the hippo gone from our room. Hardly giving it any thought, I got dressed and went downstairs to endure another bullying session at breakfast.

"Did you see how far he hit the ball!" said a random beaver jumping up and down.

"Impressive." I recognised Jamie's voice. Who were they talking about though?

I entered the cafeteria to find them all surrounding this new Murray guy. Jamie went to shake the hippo's hand. "We'll hang out with you at school."

Murray nodded munching on as much breakfast as he could before school.

The school bus arrived and the orphans piled out the gates. I made sure to sit at the very front, away from the bullies who had a strange habit of wanting to sit at the back of the bus.

"It's a position of power, you see Murray," I heard Jamie's voice at the back, "plus we get better seats than anyone else."

I turned round to see him putting his feet up. We caught each other's eyes and I looked away immediately. Jamie could be heard laughing at the back, no doubt at me.

"One sec guys" I heard him say. Oh no, he was standing up and staring at me. His fellow bullies we're laughing. Before he could do anything however Murray caught my eye and stood up too.

"Here Jamie!" he yelled in a happy go lucky tone, "look at this comic book I found! It's full of awesomeness." Murray gestured for Jamie to sit back down and look at it with him. The bullies shrugged and completely forget about me, instead looking through a comic about vehicles and wrestling.

I looked back and saw Murray distracting them all with his comic.

"They should turn wrestling and monster truck driving into a combined sport!" shouted Murray. His new friends laughed and nodded. Murray looked up and caught my eye and to my surprise, he winked.

Was he looking out for me?

Defending me?

"Okay, everyone get off," shouted the bus driver. We'd already gotten to school.

I made my way to class as fast as I could. Even though Miss Spencer was completely useless at spotting bullying, I still felt slightly safer inside the classroom. The door burst open and in came Murray and his friends. Thankfully they didn't sit near me.

"Good morning class, before we begin today we have a new student joining us. Please say hello to Murray Hippo."

Murray smiled and waved; at least he was looking better than the other day.

"How come Murray has a last name, but spas at the front doesn't?" asked Jamie, obviously referring to me.

"Don't call Bentley that and it's not important, today we'll be doing a math test." Said Miss Spencer as everyone groaned, including me. It wasn't the fact I was bad at math, it was the fact that it was too easy.

"Erm- Miss Spencer?" I asked.

I could see Jamie mocking me at the back, his friends joined in, stammering with their own nasally voices. Murray however didn't join in with them.

"Yes Bentley?" she turned round.

"I need to see the nurse." I lied, trying not to break eye contact with her.

"Why? I haven't even touched him yet," whispered Jamie to his friends.

"Well I suppose your already exceeding in every topic we give you," Miss Spencer paused for a moment, "okay, and come back whenever you need to."

I left the classroom, half running. The hallways were deserted with no kids around to bully me. I smiled to myself, freedom.

Making my way around cautiously, I found a much older looking bunch of students entering a classroom.

"Your late!" barked a very stern looking walrus.

"Sorry sir" said one of the students sheepishly.

"Never mind, write down the title: 'William Wiseturtle'".

My heart skipped a beat. I peered through the small windows to get a better look at the class. They were at the very least in their teens all of them, and on the slideshow in front of them was my father.

"What happened to him?" asked a female squirrel eagerly.

"Died in a fire, a few weeks ago, along with his wife and three sons." Replied the teacher, "write it down, we're here to do about his life."

The class began writing. I made sure I couldn't be seen but was taking in every word.

"Now, can anyone tell me who Mr. Wiseturtle was?" asked the Walrus.

"He was the heir to his own empire, the one that controlled most of the world." Replied a student.

"Correct!"

I gulped. There was no fooling myself; they were doing about my father, but what if I was mentioned?

"Can anyone tell me, one of the many defining traits about Wiseturtle?"

"He was confident, rich, cool looking." Replied a student fondly.

The teacher began to write this on the board. "Anyone else got any?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"He was a master strategist, war related and business related." Said the female squirrel from earlier. Even I didn't know that.

"Correct! Wiseturtle was indeed a very clever man. He was an expert in planning almost any operation. Probably had his whole life planned out." Added the teacher.

Then someone tapped me on the shoulder lightly.

"Hey!"

I jumped and turned round to see that Murray kid smiling at me.

"Erm, hello" I replied uncertainly.

"The teacher sent me to nurse's office to find you, but you weren't there. What are you doing anyway?" he asked, trying to peep through the classroom windows.

"Got distracted," I replied, "why?"

"It's going to be sports day next Monday!" he shouted enthusiastically. I groaned.

"Do you know what day that is too?" he added grinning. I could see why the other kids like him; he was friendly, confident, sporty, funny.

"No" I replied.

"My birthday. I'll be eight! Hooray!" He started jumping up and down, and then the bell went. Murray patted me on the shoulder, "well, I said I'd go meet Jamie" he said though he didn't sound too excited about it.

"Oh okay" I replied ready to head to the library.

"See ya around buddy."

This Murray guy was really starting to interest me. We still didn't talk too much, even though we were sharing the same room at the orphanage, but nonetheless he was my first real friend.

It was the eve of the sports day. I really, really despised sports. Walking up to the third floor of the orphanage, I could hear loud voices coming from my room. Inside were Murray, Jamie and their other friends. They all noticed me walk in and were grinning from ear to ear. Murray seemed to notice also.

"Okay, guys I'm going to get some sleep, you know, get ready for the sports day tomorrow, it's gonna be awesome!" said Murray.

Whether or not it was for my own safety, he led them to the hallway to say goodbye and I let out a sigh of relief as we were left alone. Or to be precise I was left alone.

I took a seat on my bed and began reading a book on military strategies, ever since I had found out about my father being an expert at planning operations and such, I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Or maybe he would make a re-appearance and all this orphanage business would be over. I was so desperate for any hint of news from my family.

"Just three more hours and I'll be eight," said Murray, checking his watch.

I nodded to him, and then without warning he burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" I asked confused. I wasn't one for social interactions but he clearly needed comfort, so I went over to hug him.

Between sobs he began to talk. "It's just, m-my parents. I hope they're proud of me. I just miss them so much!" he wailed as I patted him on the back.

I could relate to this. Ever since my mother had died, there was an empty void in my heart. And my uncle wasn't helping, phoning up every once in a while to fill me in on the little that he knew was going on with my father and brother's whereabouts.

Murray stopped sniffling and made himself comfortable in bed.

"Thanks, Bentley. You're a good friend," was all he said, before falling fast asleep in his bed.

I stopped to stare at him. Make sure he was all right, and then preceded back to my bed. Before I could get cosy however, Ms. Puffin opened the door quietly.

"Bentley," she whispered, checking to see if Murray was awake, "there's someone on the phone for you."

My spirits were suddenly lifted. It was definitely my uncle. 'Someone' was the name she would call him, when we weren't alone and my family background still needed to remain a secret.

I hopped off the bed, past Ms. Puffin and made my way downstairs to the office phone. On the first floor, Jamie and his friends were still awake. They spotted me straight away and made a beeline for me, but I honestly didn't care, not while my uncle was waiting for me.

"Get out of my way!" I shouted, jumping out of their reach and making my way down the last flight of stairs and into the office.

"Hello?" I asked down the phone, hoping to hear my father's voice, or Rob's. Hell I'd even love to hear James' voice.

"Bentley? Is that you?"

I sighed, it was my uncle. The connection sounded like it was breaking up and his voice sounded fuzzy.

"Where are you?" I asked, hoping for at least, some good news.

"It's not important, someone could be listening to our call. Anyway to get straight to the point. You'll need to stay at the orphanage a lot longer than I anticipated."

No. He had to understand. I hated this place.

"W-Why?" I stammered.

"The people who killed your m-, the people who burnt down your house. They're still after me. I know I'm being followed, and I'm pretty sure they'll be waiting for me to come check up on you. Plus Rob, James and your father have completely vanished. I can't find them anywhere," there was a slight pause, to let his words sink in for me. "Bentley, you're going to have to be a big boy and stay in the orphanage for a lot longer. Can you do that for me?"

There wasn't much time, we were clearly losing connection.

"Yes, I suppose so," I replied glumly. What else could I do?

"Thanky-" The connection broke off.

I slowly put the phone down and made my way back upstairs.

Only when I got back in bed, did it hit me. I was staying at this orphanage, not just for a few weeks but possibly years, maybe till I came of age.

Not wanting to wake Murray. I sobbed quietly to myself, holding onto the small hope that my family were out there somewhere, waiting to one day see me again...

"I hope you go on my team Murray," said Jamie putting on his p.e shorts.

"You too!" replied Murray, trying to fit on a p.e shirt clearly too small for his rotund features.

"Happy birthday Murray," said the p.e teacher coming in. Ever since Murray had arrived, he was by far the teacher's favourite, a model athlete, despite his chubbiness.

"Thanks coach."

The teacher whistled to get everyone's attention.

"Right. You'll be selected into four different teams. Red. Yellow. Green and Blue."

"Creative," I muttered under my breath.

"Your names have already been selected at random for your teams," shouted the teacher over the babbling students, "and please, let's not get too competitive." He glanced at Jamie, who was cracking his knuckles staring at me.

"Okay everyone. Let's head out onto the field."

It was only a few days into September, so it was still fairly warm. There were nearly thirty kids heading out onto the field. The P.E teacher came jogging out, handing out little slips of paper with our name with a colour code on it.

I read mine. Bentley, Red Team.

I looked over to the red team. My heart skipped, their Murray was standing alone. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

"Hey Murray!"

My heart sank; Jamie and (just my luck) four of his other friends were heading over to red.

"Hey guys! You got red too!" He said merrily, "this sports days in the bag!" he chuckled.

"Yeah," replied Jamie, "who's the last guy on our team?" He took one look at me, and the red colour on my little piece of paper.

Everyone on my team except Murray began to laugh, and then Jamie stood over me.

"You let our team down and I'll kick your head in." He started staring me down.

I began to stutter uncontrollably, shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, leave him Jamie!" Murray had gotten up and defended me from him.

Jamie looked like he was about to shout at Murray, but then realised the hippo was twice his size and nodded.

"Thanks" I whispered submissively.

"Anytime, partner!" replied Murray, not noticing Jamie and his other friends whispering amongst themselves.

The day didn't go too bad. Murray, Jamie and all the other sporty meatheads, gave our team a major head start from the rest.

Jamie wasn't being as friendly to Murray since he had stuck up for me, but Murray on the other hand didn't take any notice. He was too busy exceeding everyone else at sports.

Finally the day was coming to an end. It was our team against the greens. The last game was football, or American soccer, or whatever you wanna call it and the score was 2-2. Murray got ahead of himself and tackled one of the other players, forgetting that wasn't condoned in this sport and he was sent off. I was forced into net, despite the fact I couldn't save a goal for my life. Jamie walked over to me when the referee wasn't looking.

"Listen, four-eyes, we've only got a few minutes and were neck and neck with them lot, if you let another goal in, then there's going to be hell to pay." He whispered, trying to make it look like he was being friendly.

My heart was hammering. He stalked off to join his friends. I looked over at Murray who was too busy eating to pay attention to the game.

Then the referee blew his whistle and the game continued. I braced myself, ready to block the football with my own face if I had to. I could see Jamie heading towards the opposite goal with the football in tow. It was all going well until a cheetah from the opposite team, managed to slide the ball out of Jamie's control and began making his way towards me.

Everyone had their full attention on me. Even Murray had stopped eating to watch.

"Stop him, four-eyes!" yelled Jamie.

The cheetah attempted to score. I lunged towards the ball, it bounced off my shell, landing facedown on the grass I was grinning. I had saved it.

The referee blew his whistle, "end score, 3-2 to the greens!" he shouted as the green team cheered.

At that point I realised the cheetah had simply kicked the ball in the goal after I had saved it the first time. Jamie was looking murderous.

"Everyone back in the changing rooms, it's hometime!" shouted the P.E Teacher.

Everyone was heading in. Jamie however held me back with his hand, along with his other friends. No one seemed to notice.

"Coach, we'll pack everything up for you!" he shouted, covering me behind his back. The coach nodded from the distance, no one heard my muffled cries for help.

Jamie turned round and before I could react, he winded me in the stomach. I lay curled up on the floor, the inevitable outcome of getting my head kicked in was accurate.

The five lads stood over me, ready to start beating me up.

"Okay lads, who's going to kick him fir-" Before Jamie could finish however, a pink blur had hit him sqaure in face and was pushing the other lads out of the way; it was Murray.

"Leave him alone! What has he ever done to you?" yelled Murray.

Jamie, was staggering to his feet, sporting a cut lip and bleeding nose.

"You threatening us?" He asked feebly, clearly attempting to look big in front of his friends.

Murray clenched his fists in his hands and chuckled darkly, "why yes, I suppose I am" he replied. Jamie and his friends looked uncertainly at one another. Murray however was working himself into a rage, "COME ON THEN! FIVE ON ONE LETS SEE WHO WINS!" He bellowed making them all back off.

The five bullies scampered, muttering a load of threats at Murray and I, before vanishing from the field.

Murray calmed his breathing and helped me to my feet.

"You okay little buddy?" he asked me, wiping dirt of my sport clothes.

"Yeah," I stammered still shaken up, "thanks Murray."

He nodded and smiled.

The atmosphere at the orphanage was awkward to say the least. Everyone in the cafeteria was looking back and forth between Jamie and Murray constantly for any sign of a possible fight. Murray was too busy helping himself to his fourth burger to pay any attention. Jamie didn't look like he was going to try anything, not after what happened on the field earlier.

Eventually one by one the orphans made their way to bed. I had long finished my food, but was busy waiting for Murray to finish eating. Suddenly Murray got up and that was my cue to follow him. He barged straight past Jamie, who was looking rather sheepish. I couldn't help myself and gave Jamie a big grin before following Murray to our room.

"Some birthday right" said Murray laughing, as we lay in our beds in the pitch black.

"Eventful," I added.

"I hope I'm making my mom and dad proud," said Murray quietly. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this.

"I'm positive you are," I said smiling to myself, "you stuck up for me."

"Yeah my dad would be proud, he was always sticking up for himself when my mom used to attack him," said Murray, more to himself than me. I gulped, I don't think he realised what it meant.

I could hear Murray beginning to sniffle. "Last week, I was playing with my toy trucks in my bedroom, when a loud bang came from the door," he wasn't honestly going to tell me his life story, I'd only just gotten to know him.

"There was this hippo, who appeared in the hallway, before I could get a good look at him, he locked me in my bedroom and then started shouting at my dad."

"What did he say?" I asked, unsure whether to interrupt him or not.

"Oh, erm, stuff like, 'why did you never try to find me' and 'your own son'. Then I heard my dad cry out in pain and someone was running down the stairs. I shouted for my dad for ages, but he didn't respond."

There was an awkward pause. "I'm sorry to hear that" I said, hoping that would suffice.

"Anyways, my mom found me crying and my dad was in the other room, not moving, covered in blood," whimpered Murray.

I was about to ask him to stop speaking. Then I realised, this was how I felt. He wanted to get it all off his chest, someone to wallow in his grief with him. So I let him continue.

"Mom took me to the hospital, she seemed dead set on leaving me there. W-when I was done at the hospital and seemed unharmed, the doctors phoned up my mom to say I needed picking up. There was no answer at home. Luckily one of my mom's friends was at the hospital, and after convincing the doctors I knew her, she took me home," Murray gulped, like he was confused about something, "she drove me home and took me to the front door. But once we were inside, I could see my mom dangling from a rope wrapped around her neck."

I was so glad Murray didn't fully comprehend what his mother had done to herself.

"Well, don't worry Murray I'm here for you," I said.

"Thanks buddy. Anyway, how did you end up here?" he asked, clearly curious.

I paused. I wasn't allowed to reveal how I really ended up in the orphanage. I had to tell everyone, I was left as a newborn. But Murray had just opened his heart to me.

"I was left as a little newborn on the doorstep of the orphanage," I replied, hoping to sound convincing, "I don't know anything about my family."

I'm glad we were sat in the dark. I really didn't want to look Murray in the eye.

Okay guys that's chapter three done :)

I hope I managed to capture Bentley and Murray's characters right.

Please leave your thoughts etc. etc.

Thank you and goodbye.


	4. Chapter 4

**Family is Forever**

Chapter 4

Not So Black and White

"Mr Hippo, stop eating!" shouted our science teacher.

"Sorry sir," he mumbled, putting all his easter eggs in his bag for safekeeping. It was April and ofcourse Murray was making the most of it with all the easter eggs he'd got off the other students.

I laughed to myself, even though Murray and I weren't allowed to sit next each other. It was all arranged seating in our first science lesson.

"Now class, your going to write down what A) Oxygen does, B) Carbon Dioxide does and C) What Nitrogen does. You have ten minutes." said the science teacher.

Ofcourse I began scribbling away immediately. Since we were still in third grade, this was our first ever science lesson. Something I had been looking forward to for months. I looked over to see Murray clearly struggling. The guy next to me had written "April 22nd 1987" over and over on his paper, completely forgetting to do the work.

Unfortunately, it was now heading towards May and June, meaning sports would become a major priority in the teacher's eyes.

"Ms. Puffin, that's not fair!" Murray sighed.

We were back at the Orphanage. Recently Ms. Puffin had come under some stress, with her recent divorce and had resorted to comfort eating. Meaning she would steal cookies from the orphans and put them in a jar in her office. Murray nearly cried when she stole ours. Plus we had no one to go to, the only other person, other than Ms. Puffin was the scary janitor with the missing teeth and he hated children.

"Mr. Hippo you need a better diet," said Ms. Puffin with another one of her excuses to steal cookies. She gave us a triumphant look and retreated back to her office, more cookies in hands.

We were about to make our way back to our room when a Police Officer walked into the orphanage. For a fleeting second, I hoped it was my uncle, I hadn't heard from him in over four months and that was only to wish me a happy eighth birthday.

"What do you think happened?" asked Murray excitedly.

"Probably just bringing an orphan in," I replied.

As if on cue, a small gray raccoon appeared behind the officer. He was holding a brown, tattered looking book, which looked like it had been ripped apart. He was wearing a blue hat, which looked a bit too big for his head, along with a matching shirt. The most notable item on him was this massive staff with a golden 'C' in his hands. They both made their way to Ms. Puffin's office and we went upstairs.

About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on our door. Murray was too engrossed in his comic to notice.

"Come in," I called.

Ms. Puffin walked in with the raccoon from before.

"Boys this is Sly Cooper, he'll be rooming with you," she announced.

The boy called Sly started tugging on her feathers.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'd rather be by myself," answered the raccoon, "are there no rooms just for me?"

Ms. Puffin looked like she was going to shout, but Sly started to whimper.

"Oh- Very well, there's one right next door," she said, leading him out the door. At the last second, I saw the raccoon lose his whimper and grin mischievously before following her out the door.

I thought nothing of it and began reading again.

The next day, I got up in a pretty good mood. Today was double science...

"Mr.- Erm Bentley, there's no other places in class, Mr. Cooper here will need to sit next to you." said my science teacher. I nodded and the new kid made himself comfortable, his eyes darting around the room.

"Now, today class, we'll be trying a practical experiment."

The whole class looked up. Usually it was all theoretical work, but now he was handing out Bunsen burners to each table. He handed us all little slips of paper, I understood now. It was more of a test than anything from what we'd learnt over the last few weeks. As per usual, Murray didn't look like he had the faintest idea what we were doing.

I started to follow the instructions.

_100 ml of Hydrochloric Acid. _

Next to me, Sly looked completely perplexed with what we had to do. Our teacher was coming over, presumably getting ready to shout at Sly. I pointed at the container, which had Hydrochloric Acid in, and Sly quickly began working. The teacher stalked off, peering over Murray's concoction, which looked like it was about to blow up.

"Thanks," Sly whispered.

"No problem," I replied casually.

For the rest of the double lesson, we would talk occasionally. I think Sly was the second person to come to the orphanage and not make fun of me. I looked up to see him staring at me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," he replied with a sly grin, "you're pretty smart."

I nodded slowly, "thanks."

"I need someone like you," he added smirking, but before I could ask him what he meant, the bell rang meaning we had p.e next. I sighed.

"Amazing! Simply amazing!" Cried our p.e teacher for the umpteenth time.

Sly had managed to dive over every obstacle in the gymnasium, landing gracefully on his feet in front of the teacher. Even Murray couldn't keep up with him. The girls were crowding around him, congratulating him.

"Nice one!" shouted Murray, who didn't seem to be bothered being second place for once.

"Cheers," replied Sly, "your from the orphanage right? Murray something? I'm Sly."

"Awesome to meet you" replied Murray. I was still completing the course, in last place obviously.

"Nice try Bentley, try and take some tips from the pros," said my teacher, indicating to Sly and Murray.

The next few lessons Sly sat next to Murray and me. The big guy and him really hit things off with each other since they both shared a love for sports. Lucky them...

It was turning midnight at the orphanage. I knew I shouldn't have drank all that orangeade. The toilet was down the hall, it wouldn't be a problem if this was daytime but...

Never mind. Never mind. I'll risk it, what's the worse that could be out there? I froze up before leaving the safety of my bedroom. The toilet was only down the hall.

Even though I knew absolutely no one was around, I kept looking behind me, before heading inside the toilet. After I was finished on the toilet, I heard the sound of a door opening down the hall, and then within a fraction of a second a dark figure darted down the hallway and past the toilets. I froze up. Hardly daring to look where it had gone. I could only make out its stripy tail…. Stripy tail? Oh god damn it. It was Sly.

"Hey!" I hissed. Sly instantly turned round, his chocolate brown eyes lit up in the moonlight.

"Oh hi," he replied unfazed.

"Oh hi? Sly you shouldn't be sneaking around at this time!" I said, trying to keep a low voice.

"It's what dad would have wanted," said Sly, more to himself than me.

"What are you guys doing!" yelled a familiar voice.

Sly and I both spun round to see Murray jogging merrily down the hall. Before either one of us could quiet him down, Ms. Puffin appeared on the landing.

"What are you boys doing?" asked Ms. Puffin, in a quiet but stern voice.

Sly looked down at his feet. Murray gulped.

"Ms. Puffin, as you know Sly's new here. He didn't know where the toilet was, so we helped him," I replied, as casually as possible. Murray looked slightly confused, but Sly was grinning.

"Oh," replied Ms. Puffin, "well then, never mind. Sly the toilets behind you, you all ran straight past it..." She eyed us all suspicously. "Return to your rooms immediately."

"Excuse me Ms. Puffin, is it okay if I room with Bentley and Murray?" asked Sly.

"I did give you the offer yesterday, but of course," Said Ms. Puffin, "well? What are you waiting for, off to bed!"

We didn't need telling twice. Before I could ask Sly, why he wanted to room with us. The janitor with no teeth came hobbling down the hall.

"Orphans out of bed! Orphans in the corridor!" He said, wheezing slightly.

"Yes, John, they're going back to bed now" said Ms. Puffin, shaking her head at him.

Murray and I scurried past him, trying not to make eye contact. Sly however gave him a cheeky grin and went to go get his belongings from his old room.

"What was all that about?" Murray asked, wrapping himself up in his covers.

"Sly was up to something," I muttered waiting for the raccoon to return.

"Hello, new roommates!" Sly yelled, kicking the door open and walking in with his brown tattered book and golden cane.

Murray giggled. "Sly! Be quiet!" I hissed, "you could wake the other orphans, and do you mind telling me what you were doing, sneaking around at this time?"

There was a brief silence. Sly looked back and forth between us before finally speaking. "I was going to steal the Cookie Jar out of Ms. Puffin's Office."

Cue, another brief silence.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I'm a thief," replied Sly casually.

There was another short silence, (this was getting repetitive), before I spoke again. "And you're telling us this, because why?" I asked.

"Well I've been thinking," answered Sly, sounding nervous for once, "Bentley, your really brainy and Murray you're insanely strong, especially for your age."

Murray grinned happily. I however wasn't to be flattered.

"What's your point?" I asked.

"Well, would you guys like to help me steal back the cookies from Ms. Puffin?"

"We're not thieves!" I hissed. Sly however didn't seem agitated by this; instead he went up to Murray who was still sitting in his bed.

"Murray, do you like cookies?" he asked, with this smile I didn't trust.

"Yeah!" Murray nearly shouted.

"Would you like to help me, get the cookies back from Ms. Puffin?" Sly asked.

Before Murray could answer, I cut them both off.

"Stop encouraging him Sly. Murray you're not stealing it's wrong." I flared up.

"We're stealing back the cookies, which Ms. Puffin took off the orphans in the first place," Sly pointed out. "I was taught not to steal from hard working people," Sly added.

Murray seemed okay with the whole Sly being a thief thing, but I wasn't going to be fooled.

"Don't you think it seems illogical to fight crime with crime?" I asked.

"My family has never done anything to harm innocent people," said Sly, though I didn't fully understand what he meant. Sly looked puzzled, "oh yeah!" he piped up, "it's like what my dad used to say, 'you rip off a master criminal, and you know you're a master thief!'"

"Ms. Puffin is hardly a master criminal," I smirked.

"Well, dad told me I had to start at some point," said Sly and at once, I stopped smirking. He looked quite teary eyed and I just remembered he'd only been dropped off at the orphanage a day ago.

"Bentley, me or my family have never stolen from innocent people. We help fight crime, in a more thieving fashion," Sly began to babble, "the world isn't so black and white. We're not thugs, we're vigilantes."

I decided to stop arguing. That's what I said to my uncle about vigilantes. I mean, maybe Sly had a point, if he was being honest about only stealing from other criminals, then maybe I shouldn't stereotype him as pure evil. But what did he mean by 'his family' and 'dad', he spoke like they were all thieves. No! Enough! Sly is nothing but trouble.

I got into bed. "I don't want anything to do with criminals," I said turning my back on the two of them.

A few days passed by. Sly seemed to have Murray wrapped round his finger, who was more enthusiastic about stealing those cookies than ever. Every break and lunch at school he would approach me, "we'd really be doing some good, giving those cookies back to the orphans." Murray would point out.

"That's only because you want food, Murray," I replied coolly.

Nonetheless what Sly said had aggravated me. Not only because he had a fair point, but also because I was being hypocritical. I had spoke eagerly about vigilantes to my uncle and now I was acting like Sly was in the wrong. I couldn't even concentrate on the book I was reading and began making my way through the playground when-

"Hey loser! Why do you still have that?"

I turned round to see a polar bear a few years above me, shoving a rabbit (who I knew, had special needs) to the playground floor. The bear was holding the rabbit's red Elmo teddy in his hand.

"Please, give it back!" cried the rabbit, but the polar bear ignored him and threw the Elmo teddy onto the school roof.

Something had to been done. The rabbit was crying. The polar bear was laughing at him, but as usual I froze up. Then I noticed something. I could see Sly down the other end of the playground, quickly climbing up onto the school roof, making sure no teachers we're around. Then as quickly as possible, he got the rabbit's Elmo teddy bear down.

"Here you go," said Sly handing it him slowly.

"T-thank you," stuttered the rabbit.

"Don't worry about it," said Sly patting him on the back, "here take this," he added stuffing what looked like money in the rabbit's pockets.

"Thank you!" cried the rabbit, jumping and down before leaving with a smile on his face. I looked over at the bear, who was dumbfounded, checking his wallet for even a bit of change and then I glanced at Sly, whom had a big grin spread across his face.

"You didn't…" I sighed.

"I did" he replied still grinning.

"I thought you said you were a thief?" I asked.

"Yeah I am," replied Sly, looking confused.

"Why didn't you keep the money?"

"Because, my family don't steal for greed or self gain, we do it for fun and to stop the worse kind of criminals," said Sly, reciting it like he had been told it a million times.

That was all I really needed to know. We found Murray, playing rugby with his older friends and I got him and Sly huddled in a circle.

"The whole cookie stealing thing," I whispered, they nodded, "I'm in." Both of them started to smile.

Sly pulled the two of us away from the other students and under a tree at the edge of the field, far from teachers.

"If we are going to do this, then we're going to need certain items," I whispered, making sure we out of earshot of everyone.

"Like what?" Asked Sly.

"Two plastic cups, a fairly long piece of string, and a tricycle and trailer," I said.

Both of them gave me confused looks.

"I'll explain later."

Sly could hardly conceal his excitement.

"You heard the brains! Come on Murray, we'll get the cups and string from the art room."

"I have a tricycle and trailer at the orphanage," added Murray happily, as the two walked off. I smiled. This was going to be interesting…

It was nearing sunset at the orphanage. I'd used our bedcovers to turn our bedroom into a makeshift tent so I could work on our upcoming operation without the risk of being caught by Ms. Puffin. Sly and Murray had disappeared about an hour ago to work on the "Cooper Tricycle", although I'm not quite sure what they meant.

Right on cue, Sly and Murray strolled in.

"Uh, Bentley. What did you do to our room?" I heard Murray ask from outside the tent.

I crawled out from under the tent. "Shhh!" I whispered, before inviting them inside the tent.

The three of us could just about fit inside it. I crawled inbetween them and turned on a torch.

"Nice one," said Sly, looking at my drawings clearly impressed.

Murray stared at the cartoon cookies, he began drooling and then started to eat my crayons.

"Okay guys listen up," I whispered, "here's the plan. Ms. Puffin will be leaving in half an hour or so, this is our chance to steal the cookies, got it?" The two of them nodded. "Good. Once she's left we'll have an estimated five minutes to steal the cookies."

For some reason Murray raised his hand like we were in class.

"Yes Murray?" I asked, amused.

"Erm, Bentley. Won't the janitor's notice we're gone from our beds, while we're stealing the cookies?" He asked.

"Oh don't worry about that," I replied, "we can just place pillows under our covers and make it look like we're asleep. I highly doubt they'll do an extensive search of our beds."

The two of them nodded again, and I took it as my cue to continue.

"Sly, first you'll hide in the trash can outside Ms. Puffin's office. Meanwhile, Murray and I will make our way outside and to the tricycle."

"Cooper Tricycle," Sly corrected me.

"Right... Once Ms. Puffin leaves her office, that'll be your cue to enter her office, from there Murray will throw the cupunicator through her office window."

"The cupuni-what?" Sly asked.

"Cupunicator," I held up two plastic cups attached to each other by string.

"Oh," said Sly, holding my invention curiously.

"From there, you can keep updating what's happening inside, whilst Murray and I will wait on the Cooper Tricycle. Once you have the cookie jar in hand, climb out the window and we all get the hell outta there. Got it?"

Sly nodded, his trademark smile appearing. Murray was still daydreaming, munching on crayons.

Sly picked up the cupunicator. He looked at me, expecting me to pick up the other end, even though we were right next to each other. Why not humour him?

"Ring! Ring!" said Sly, this was getting embarassing.

"Sly?" I spoke through the cup too, just for the sake of it.

"Yes, Bentley?"

"You ready to steal those cookies?"

"I read you, Bentley. Let's do it!"

The hallways were getting much darker, as we made our way downstairs. I was getting more paranoid as we ventured further out of our room. Things were so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. We'd already come up with several excuses incase we got caught on the way down.

'One of us is feeling sick.'

'We're all heading toilet.'

'We're all sleep walking.'

'We all wet the bed.'

Yeah. We didn't really think them through.

But once we seperated things would get difficult. We reached the ground floor and we spotted an unlocked window.

"Okay guys, this windows slightly open. You two ready?" said Sly, hardly supressing his glee.

I nodded nervously. Murray gave him an encouraging smile and off he went.

"Come on buddy," whispered Murray, opening the window carefully.

He lifted me through the window and I landed on soft ground. Then he climbed carefully out the window himself. My adrenaline was building.

"What if one of the janitor's shuts us out?" Murray asked.

"Good point." I picked up a small pebble on the ground and wedged it under the window. "That'll do," I added, before Murray led the way to the Cooper Tricycle.

When we got there I laughed. Both the tricycle and trailer had been painted on, to give it this blue coat with flames on it. Also Sly had drawn a crude symbol on an etch a sketch, which I think was supossed to be a 2D raccoon face.

We were in luck. The window to Ms. Puffin's office was wide open, and judging by the fact they were no lights on Ms. Puffin had left early. Once we could hear a car on the other side of the orphanage starting up, we knew she was leaving. I passed Murray one end of the cupunicator and just hoped this would work.

"Eye of the tiger, pal" I whispered to Murray.

He stuck his tongue out in concentration then tossed it up into midair.

"Perfect!" I whispered, as the cup flew through the window, despite the loud clattering noise it made.

Then I felt a soft tug on the string and hoped it was Sly on the recieving end.

"Bentley, this is Sly! Do you read me?" My heart stopped hammering. "I'm in position."

This was it. "Excellent. My ingenius cupunicator is flawless! As long as you hold on to your end, we'll be in constant contact... And with my advice, you can't fail!" I replied.

Murray grinned and braced himself on the Cooper Tricycle.

"Begin, Operation: Cookie Connection!" I whispered down the cup.

We had only five minutes. Three or four past by with the constant sound of furniture being pushed around in the office. There was no denying, the atmosphere was tense. Then Sly spoke.

"Ok, Bentley. Everything's ready." I think my heart stopped.

"You don't have the cookies yet! We're out of time! We have to abort the mission!" I yelled, disregarding the whole stealth idea.

Sly didn't respond, but I could here him climbing up the furniture. That idiot really wanted those cookies. Mind you, so did Murray. Then Sly spoke again.

"Okay! I'm in position, sort of..."

I groaned.

"You know this is pretty high up," I heard him say.

Even Murray was starting to look worried. I placed the cupunicator right to my mouth.

"Sly, we're out of time! Get out of there while you still can!" I yelled.

"Almost there..." I could hear Sly panting.

Then both Murray and I spotted something that made our blood run cold. Someone was making their way down the hallway, straight to Ms. Puffin's office. Luckily they didn't spot us outside.

"Uhh, is that you guys in the hall? I thought you were going to wait outside!" said Sly down the line.

_Oh no..._ _This was it, we are in so much trouble!_

"That's it! I'm pulling the plug on this thing myself. Hold on Sly!" Murray yelled as he began to pedal like a madman.

All I heard was Sly go, "whuh?" and we were off. Me holding onto the cup for dear life, making sure Sly didn't get left behind.

"B-Bentley, where are brakes on this thing?" Murray yelled upfront.

"What brakes?" I asked as the tricycle and trailer disconnected and we sent rolling down the country lane.

Murray was the first to recover. Sly, somehow, had ended up in the trailer.

"Sorry guys," Murray whimpered.

Sly, to my suprise, didn't seem too bothered. "You know we're all pretty lucky," he groaned, rubbing his head.

I didn't really understand what he meant, and after all that planning, we had failed. It was a shame, I was actually starting to enjoy myself too.

"After that disaster?" I asked, slowly getting back on my feet, "what do you mean?"

Sly tipped his hat to us, and it was full to the brim with cookies!

"Lucky I inherited my dad's fast fingers," he replied with a grin, "dig in fellas."

"Hooray!" both Murray and I chimed in unison.

"No cookie jar is going to keep me out!" mumbled Sly as we ate our well deserved cookies.

The next day, Sly was discreetly handing out cookies to the orphans. Ms. Puffin seemed furious that her cookies were gone but didn't press the matter to any of us. I had to admit, I was abit scared at first of Sly's "methods" but we were being hailed as heroes at the orphanage, or "vigilantes" for Sly's choice of word.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, I mean my family had abandoned me, I had nothing else to turn to. I really couldn't imagine leading a normal life after the rush I felt the other night.

The following night, Sly got into a long explanation about who his ancestors were, what happened to his parents and what he was planning on doing when he grew up. At first, Murray and I were incredibly nervous about going after this gang of villians known as the "Fiendish Five", but at the same time we were dead set on helping our new best friend and we made a pact we would help him hunt them down, much, much later in life.

There was also something else I realised. Maybe I had become friends with Sly and Murray for two reasons. One, Murray (in appearence) reminded me of James. Even though James had always hated me, it was still comforting to have Murray around just for that brief reminder. He was like a younger, friendlier version of James. And then there was Sly, who had the exact same personality as Rob. Confident, cocky, smooth. Maybe I had grown attached to these two without even realising it, because of those reasons...

"Oh! I nearly forgot! We have to write down the date the Cooper Gang was formed!" said Sly gleefully, grabbing a pen and paper.

_April 26th 1987_

Sly Cooper

_Bentley Turtle _(I couldn't put Wiseturtle)

**Murray Hippo.**

"The Cooper gang is formed," yelled Sly pulling out bottles of coke he had stolen from Ms. Puffin's office earlier. The three of us laughed. Maybe this was the start of something special.

**Okay guys. That's chapter 4 done. **

**Now the next chapter, i'm unsure with. **

**It could be incredibly long. It might be a summary of Bentley from age 8 - 17, but i'm not sure myself. Any suggestions? **

**Is anyone bored of the orphanage chapters or do they want to move onto other stuff?**

**Feel free to voice your opinion.**

**Thanks for reading my story and goodbye :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 5**

_This whole chapter, is a shortened down version of Bentley's childhood and teenage years, with random antics and subtle clues etched all over. To keep things rolling quickly i've decided to write down the date at the start of some paragraphs to keep things moving smoothly._

_On with the chapter._

**Brothers of Bond**

It had been a few weeks, since the guys and I had pulled off 'Operation: Cookie Connection'. Murray was snoring loudly in his sleep and I was rolling around in my covers attempting to get comfortable. Sly could be heard muttering softly, although I wasn't sure what he was dreaming about until-

"DAD!" Sly screamed at the top of his lungs, bolting upright in his bed, panting after what seemed to be a nightmare. Murray stirred feebly in response but didn't wake, so I got up to comfort Sly.

I was holding the shaking raccoon. It was completely understandable. Sly had arrived at the Orphanage several weeks ago. Occasionally in the night he would wake up screaming about his parents. So I took it upon myself to comfort him.

"It's okay. It's okay. Sly- Sly look at me. You're okay," I said, trying to calm his breathing down.

The raccoon held onto me for support to stay upright then fell flat out on the bed again, instantly asleep by the look of things.

Ah well, you know the old saying. If you can't on a friend to comfort you after a particually bad nightmare, what kind of friend are they?

**September 10th 1987**

"...happy birthday, dear Murray! Happy birthday to you," Sly and I sang in unison. Murray blew out his nine candles and Sly handed him the birthday cake he had stolen from a random shop.

"All for you big guy," Sly added, much to Murray's delight. This was the first time anyone of us had celebrated a birthday, we had no money otherwise. Sly's methods, or should I say our methods were the only way to get free food. Maybe soon we could celebrate christmas together...

After Murray had devoured most of the birthday cake. He was incredibly thirsty. He was about to make his way downstairs to get a drink when Sly and I let him sit down.

"You only turn nine once pal, we'll get it for you," I said, staring at the slothed out hippo on the bed.

"Cheers!" he grinned lazily, as we made our way out the room.

Downstairs we were told only to get one drink each, but Sly ofcourse had different plans and began swiping whatever he could find for the birthday feast. I laughed then something caught my eye in the Ms. Puffin's Office.

Peering inside, she had left to go toilet or something, there was no sign of her. On the television, there was a news report going on:

"Multiple sightings of William Wiseturtle," I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "have been confirmed by members of the public," there was a female parrot on the news, stalking around the outskirts of the local government's office.

The woman on the television approached a very agitated looking dog.

"Excuse me sir, what do you have to say about the supposed sightings of William Wiseturtle?" she asked.

I think my heart did a somersault.

"Nothing of it," he replied in a gruff voice, frowning at the camera slightly, "nothing but delusional gossip mongers trying to stir up trouble," he added before making a hasty getaway to his car.

"Bentley, what do you think you're doing?"

I turned to round to see Ms. Puffin standing in the doorway. The instant smell of cigarettes told me she was still dealing with her divorce in a new way, other than stealing cookies.

"I heard something about my father on the news," I mumbled, but she heard every word and closed the office door to make sure we couldn't be heard.

"Bentley," she began sighing, "you do realise it's merely rumours and hunches," she nodded gravely to the televsion.

"It could be tru-"

"No," she cut me off quite quickly, "why do you think he's still around when its been a year since you were left here?"

I didn't have any retort. She wouldn't let me go looking for my father. I could only guess she took my Uncle's words to heart and made sure I would never go looking for danger, even long after he had vanished.

**July 23rd 1990**

Our sixth grade graduation assembly was something of an anti-cliamx. Both Sly and Murray we're expecting the whole school to be present in the main hall, while we were given awards. Alas, it seemed only parents of our fellow sixth graders showed up. Tears of joy streaming as their kids recieved random awards. I wonder what my parents would think of me now...

The headmaster got up on stage to join our class.

"First to Miss. Rachael Bartonschmeer and Mr. Bentley- Erm, Turtle" he called out.

I had to supress a laugh. The school was still confused why my last name was never revealed. I guess Ms. Puffin never relayed my family secret to anyone.

Me and this black haired girl got up. She looked over at me and smiled, I felt a slight nervous jolt in my stomach which I was sure had nothing to do with crowd.

"For best marks in all computer related classes," shouted the headmaster over the applause me and Rachael both got. We both shook hands with the proud headmaster and sat back down on the stage.

The applause stopped at once as our headmaster read out the next award.

"To Mr. Sly Cooper," the crowd had already started appluading, even all the girls had in our class, "for best gymnastics, best atheltics, best- well you get the idea" the headmaster laughed weakly.

Sly ofcourse milked his fifteen minutes of fame as best he could. Doing over dramatic bows to his audience then doing a flip in midair and landing next to the headmaster to shake his hand. Even the headmaster loved him.

After Sly's fun. Several more students from our class got up to collect the awards. My hands were going numb from clapping so loud. I was waiting for best wrestler and rugby player award to come up, almost one hundred percent sure who it would be.

"Next to Mr. Murray Hippo," our class started applauded straight away, "for best rugby player and wrestler, this school has seen in many years."

I clapped as loud as possible. Looking around the many students, I had to admit I envied Sly and Murray's popularity slightly.

Murray's walk over to headmaster quickly turned into a nervous strut, then he fell over his own big feet and went tumbling into the headmaster, knocking the two of them off the stage.

"Sorry sir," said Murray, helping the headmaster to his feet.

"It's fine Murray, I know you didn't mean it. Plus you gave our school's sport reputation a brilliant name the second you stepped foot into our school."

Over in the crowd, I could see our P.E teacher either crying tears of joy or sadness, the whole 'tough guy' exterior seemed long gone. I knew Sly and Murray were his absolute favourites and now they were going, he would have to find other star p.e pupils to take their place.

Then I spotted him...

The headmaster's voice seemed to distort and quiet down. In the crowd, I could see a green turtle, not just any green turtle, this one had distinct jet black hair, a cool unfazed expression and uncommon peircing black eyes. He was surrounded by an army on men all clad in tuxedos. It couldn't be...

"And again! To Mr Bentley Turtle, for the best results in Math and Science this school has ever seen."

The audience started clapping again. It took me a while to realise my name had been called, I was pushed out of my seat by Murray and went to shake the headmaster's hand and collect my awards.

When I looked back at the spot, where I was sure I saw _that green turtle_. There was no one there anymore. No group of men in tuxedos and no sign of _him. _

I realised I was staring at the crowd and hastily sat back down before I attracted too much attention to myself.

After the headmaster had gone through all the awards and the P.E teacher had to be carried out because he was so crying so hard, we were given some last warm words of farewell.

"Now! In middle school, we expect you to behave and mature," said the headmaster, shooting a few glances as Sly who was smiling back. "We really do hope, you do well in life and hope you mature and shoulder some responsibility. It has been an honour to teach all of you, good luck and goodbye."

Predictably some students began crying. The parents in the crowd began applauding and I took one look at Sly and Murray. _'... hope you mature and shoulder some responsibilty...' _

Both of them were legging people up as they made their way off stage and kept pushing each other over chairs, laughing their heads off.

Mature? I think your asking for too much.

**November 6th 1992**

"You should really hang out with me sometime after school, help me learn the full english language," said Rachael as we spoke by the lockers, "I'm from Germany you know?" she added, although her last name being 'Bartonschmeer' that much was almost obvious.

"I'd love to help you," I replied in a terrible, overdone, hearty voice.

Damn it, she was pretty. It had taken me two years in middle school to stop stuttering and actually talk to her, and now (hopefully) nothing could go wrong.

"Mr Turtle! To my office now!" roared our headmaster from the opposite end of the corrider.

"Erm- i'll see you later," I called back to her before wondering what on earth could be going on.

I walked inside to see Murray sat down too, looking just as confused as I was.

"What's going on?" I asked, as the headmaster closed the door behind us, the fact he was a rhinocerous didn't make him any less intimidating.

"Mr. Cooper has gone too far this time" replied the headmaster looking furious, "we've had to call Ms. Puffin in. You're from the orphanage too, aren't you?"

I nodded then glanced at Murray who shrugged at me and began staring out the window, clearly bored out of his mind.

Occasionally the headmaster would mumble to me things like, _"we hope you would exert some control over your friend" _and _"he won't listen to us, whatsoever."_

Moments later, the school's art teacher walked in, looking even more anrgy than the headmaster.

"Hi, Miss Elson!" shouted Murray, in a happy go lucky tone.

"Not now Murray! Headmaster, he's here." She indicated to someone behind her and there he was, our ringtailed troublemaker for a friend.

"In Mr. Cooper!" barked the headmaster. He then turned to Miss Elson and adopted a more gentle voice, "now then. What exactly was he doing?" he asked her calmly.

In response to this, she went a deep shade of scarlet and began stuttering.

"Him- He was with a girl from the year above, they were both in one of the cubilces in the girl's toilets." After a brief pause she spoke again, " she had his _thing!" _She threw a disgusted look at Sly, "in her mouth!"

Murray immediatly doubled over laughing, falling off the chair and landing on the carpet, clutching his sides. Inbetween laughs we could make out what he was saying.

"You- Legend- Sly!"

"Enough Mr. Hippo!" bellowed the headmaster, "we thought things had changed with you. Thought you turned over a new leaf, especially after last year's incident in Food Tech..."

Murray gulped and fell silent, and I could vividly remember all the cakes (which we're baked by students for exams) had gone missing from the Food Tech class and Murray arriving late for P.E, his mouth covered in chocolate sauce.

"Prove it was me in the girl's toilets," said Sly firmly, relaxing his stance against the office door.

Miss Elson cleared her throat, then spoke again. "The CCTV Footage records sound sir, and we could here _him _moaning, then we could see him walking out of there, zipping up his pants..."

"This shouldn't be happening," said the headmaster softly, his hands covering his face in embarassment, "certianly not from thirteen year olds..."

Murray tried to stop himself from laughing and compromised by making a retarded cough sound.

Then Ms. Puffin walked into the office, and complete silence followed her.

"What has he done now?"

_Several hours later..._

"This is so unfair!" whined Sly yet again, "grounded until New Years Day!"

"Sly! None of them are in the wrong here," I yelled at him, "you are!"

"Me? It was just a one time thing, does it really matter?" He asked, flaring up aswell.

"How are you doing in classes Sly?" I asked him, expecting all fails.

"Here!" he said forcefully handing me a slip of paper which had to be his report card.

I opened it.

**Sly Conner Cooper**

**Maths - C**

**English - B**

**Science - E**

**P.E - A**

**French - B**

**History - C**

**Geography - D**

**R.E - C**

**Art - C**

**I.T - C**

**German - D**

**Sex Ed - A**

**Design and Technology - D**

**Food Tech - C**

**Drama - A**

**Attendance - 76% (Seen sneaking off the School Premises)**

**Behaviour - Poor**

**Homework - Satisfactory**

**Overall - Average**

**Tutor's notes -**

_**"Sly is naturally an acedemically strong student, but allows him naughty side to get the best of him. If he intends to pursue any further education after school, then he'll need to buckle down and behave himself."**_

I read it several times, before realising it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. He was only failing four out of fifteen classes. Sure his attendance wasn't the best and he'd only just scraped not getting shouted at for homework but at least he had his goal sets.

"Your thoughts sir?" Sly asked in a mock posh tone.

"It's okay, I guess. I'm sorry for lashing out at you Sly, just trying to make sure you get an education," I replied quietly, handing him the report card.

"Let me guess you got all A's on yours?" Sly asked with a grin.

"Nope, I got an E in gym."

Both Murray and Sly laughed at this.

"It doesn't matter anyway Bentley," Murray piped up, "you're the tech guy of our team, as long as your passing Math, I.T and Science etc. You'll be right on track."

Sly started to pace up and down the room for several minutes, before finally speaking.

"You know, we really do need to work out what subjects each of us individually will be taking" he said looking at his report card.

"I'm dropping, Geography, German and Design and Tech anyways, so then I'll only be failing Science, plus I'll have more time to work in P.E," he finally said, putting his report card down and started doing press-ups next to his bed.

"Well Sly, both me and Murray have had this planned out for two years, what we're going to do."

Sly raised his eyebrows at this. So I thought i'd answer shortly.

"We're still coming with you to take back the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus," I inclined my head towards the tattered brown binding on Sly's bed; the only thing left of it.

Sly grinned, and Murray seemingly grabbed us both out of thin air and pulled us into a massive bear hug, very painful.

**December 20th 1993**

"I love Christmas break!" I heard Murray mumble from the other side of the room.

The three of us were enjoying our time off, by laying around in bed 24/7. Even Sly, who was always enthusiastic about his gym training was rolling around in bed. The sun was just rising up through the windows, leading me to believe it was morning.

Eventually, we would have to get out of bed before christmas and do some shopping for each other. This year we'd decided to leave our birthdays and save up all our money for christmas shopping. Ms. Puffin entered the room.

"Bentley, come with me," she said quietly.

Sly started climbing out of bed too, but I gestured for him to sit back down. "It's fine," I mumbled before following her.

She led me downstairs. Looking at the other orphans on our way down, I realised how me, Sly and Murray were the oldest in the orphanage. Everytime someone came to adopt us, we would make a plan to disrupt it entirely.

We entered her office, to find two friendly looking badgers smiling at me. Guessing by the ring on their fingers and the fact they were holding hands, these two were married.

"Bentley, this is Mr and Mrs. Witstock." I shook both their hands and found their warm smiles, somewhat awkward.

"To cut straight to the chase Bentley, these two would love to adopt you."

I stopped listening to Ms. Puffin. What was she talking about? I wasn't supossed to be up for adoption. Sure she had tried to get Sly and Murray adopted, but we had none of it. She knew my Uncle told her to not to adopt me. Even though I hadn't heard from him in seven years...

"... and once we've filled out the forms, you'll be ready to take your new adoptive son home." Ms. Puffin gestured towards me and the woman's face sparkled with tears.

"O-Okay, we'll be back soon to decide," she stuttered, but smiling happily.

Both the badgers gave me happy looks before leaving and I turned to face Ms. Puffin.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked her quietly, shooting daggers at her.

"Excuse me?" she replied, in that boring stern voice of hers.

"You know what I mean. I'm not supposed to be adopted, my uncle said-"

"Your uncle hasn't contacted you in seven years," she cut me off, "I mean Bentley, see some sense, you haven't seen a single family member of yours, since you came here have you?"

I wouldn't nod in agreement. Even though it was true, to agree with her would make it absolute, but I always wanted to hope my family were still out there somewhere.

"I still don't want to be adopted," I said firmly, "Sly and Murray are like my fami-"

"You live in an orphanage. Your uncle's terms no longer apply, that couple have my full approval to adopt you. End of story."

"And don't I have a say in this?" I asked, in the most condescending voice I could conjure.

"Our Orphanage's policy, is to adopt as soon as possible and you have been living here for quite some time. However past events, where people attempt to adopt either you, Sly and Murray, they've gone a bit awry and the people have left aggravated for one reason or another..."

I supressed a smirk, thinking back to all the times, Sly had stolen our adoptive-parents-to-be's car keys or posessions and messed around with them in such an obvious manner that they utterly refused to adopt us afterwards. But now Ms. Puffin was dead set on getting me out of here and I needed to stand up for myself.

"You think this'll work this time?" I asked through gritted teeth, "give me one reason I should agree to this."

Ms. Puffin raised her eyebrows at this, then began scanning through the forms the badger couple had given and began to read outloud.

_"Mrs. Judy Witstock previously suffered from cervical cancer and had chemotherapy done to help her fight it. However as a side effect, the chemotherapy made her infertile and unable to have children of her own."_

A sudden guilt hit me. If I did refuse to be adopted then it seemed really harsh. I wondered why the young couple were so intent on adopting...

_"We at Social Services, strongly suggest you help the couple fight a suitable orphan for them."_

She stopped reading and stared me down defiantly to see if I would laugh, but I don't think I'd found anything less funny in my life.

"You may leave now Bentley," she cast me a triumphant look, "enjoy your last few days here."

I slowly returned to my bedroom. Now that it was a possibility I was leaving, the orphanage seemed so new again and fresh. I couldn't bear returning to Sly and Murray and telling them...

"Relax, Bentley, we can put a plan together and disrupt the adoption," said Sly after I had told them both the situation.

The two of them stood up, ready for a plan.

"Let's do it!" Murray said enthusiastically and the two of them began rummaging through spare A3 paper hidden under drawers and such. I remained rooted to the spot, staring down at my feet.

"What's wrong?" Sly asked trying to find a pen, both pair of eyes on me.

"I'd feel so guilty. Refusing to be adopted," I replied in barely a whisper.

The two exchanged nervous looks.

"It'll be fine," Sly tried to speak in a voice of determined calmness, but his face was etched with nervousness.

I remembered (what seemed like a lifetime ago) when I was living at the Wiseturtle Manor with my family, spending everyday reading, living a life of luxury. Maybe this was my escape ticket, I mean I could still see Sly and Murray at school, and we could still hang out. I noticed the two of them still staring.

"I'm not formulating any sort of plan," I tried to speak in a firm voice.

The two of them opened their mouths to speak, but couldn't quite manage it.

Realising our situation was going nowhere, I got back into bed and turned my back on the two of them.

"Pretty soon, I reckon we're all going to be adopted, we can't not pretend." I spoke quietly, staring at the wall...

The next few days were unbearable at the orphanage. The three of us had stopped talking fullstop. Sly and Murray would occasionally mumble to each other. I had just spent the last few days like a ghost, staying in bed all day, reading to myself, skipping lunch and dinner.

Then on Christmas Eve, the couple reappeared.

"So is everyone ready to go?" asked Ms. Puffin with a christmas hat on her head.

We were sat in the office, with the couple. And I was about to leave this place, without Sly and Murray...

I'd been firm with the two of them. We would still hang out and was very firm with Sly, that we would still take back the Thievius Raccoonus together.

"Let's go Patrick," said the woman looking at me.

"I-I'm sorry, what did you call me?" I asked, looking back and forth at everyone in disbelief.

Ms. Puffin idly picked up a sheet of paper.

"Oh yes, I almost forget, your new adoptive parents are allowed to rename you if you wish. Your new name, is Patrick."

"You are not call me Pa-"

"Let's go!" said the male badger merrily, I don't think any of them heard me.

They opened the office doors, to find Sly and Murray standing there. Sly gave me this look, that made me want to vanish. How does one take so much guilt? Murray was just looking at me, silent tears flowing down his face.

"Come on son," said the female badger, patting me on the back. This must of been a happy day for her. Finally able to have a son.

I took one last look at Sly and Murray. My non-blood brothers.

"Goodbye guys," I said shuffling my feet nervously.

"Bye Bentley," said Sly in an almost mechanic voice.

Murray was sniffling too hard to respond.

I was dragged out of there, and led to a small mini car, I assumed belonged to them. The orphanage was far from the heart of Paris. The three of us stood there, completely alone on the country lane.

"Welcome to the family, Patrick," said my new 'dad', they both pulled me into a massive bear hug.

"Thankyou," I replied in what I hoped was a hearty voice.

We got into the car. Every inch of me screaming to run back to the Orphanage, grab Sly and Murray and flee. I took one last look at my old room on the third floor, there were two silhouettes staring through the bedroom window. No doubt who they were. I guess this was the start of a new life for me.

"Who's that dear?" I heard my new mum say at the front.

I noticed what they were staring at. Or for a better choice of word; who.

A man was walking alone down the country lane. Heading straight for us. What put us all on edge was he was wearing a black mask to cover in face, and had a briefcase in the other.

Before any of us had time to react, he opened the car door and swung the briefcase open, revealing god knows how many euros.

My adoptive parents began to stutter.

"It's two million euros," said the masked man, who's voice sounded somewhat familiar, "leave him at the orphanage and it's all yours," he nodded towards me. The man held out what was presumably a contract letting them legally claim the money if they left me at the Orphanage. At the bottom of the contract, they were the initials:

_**W.W**_

The two badgers looked like they couldn't believe their eyes. Neither could I, to be honest. The two of them spoke in hushed whispers and glanced at me occasionally with forced smiles. Then the woman got out the car and beckoned for me to follow her back to the Orphanage. So I did, she walked straight into the main lobby with me, then left so quickly. I couldn't quite come to terms with what was going on, this had to be a joke.

I stared out the lobby window to see them driving off, the masked man had vanished. Ms. Puffin walked out of the office, to see me standing there and the couple gone. I thought she was going to shout, then she did something I would never expect her to do, she hugged me!

"I'm sorry Bentley, sometimes people have a change of heart at the last second, don't let it bother you."

I contemplated whether or not to tell her, there was alot of money involved just a few seconds ago, but instead resorted to nodding. She was under the impression, they had panicked at the very last second, this was almost too perfect.

"Speak to me if you have any problems," she said before finally leaving.

Orphans gave me confused looks as I made my merry way back upstairs. This was incredible! Everyone had got their happy ending, I didn't feel guilty anymore and I was more than fine to stay here with Sly and Murray. I just wondered who gave them that money? Who was W.W?

I entered my old room to see Sly and Murray sobbing quietly on their beds. When they saw me, they looked at me like I was a ghost. Then... they jumped on me.

"Bentley, we'd thought we would never see you again!" said Sly, crying the hardest, his whole athletic, confident, cocky composure long gone.

"Never again. I promise," I whispered to them both...

That Christmas turned out more cheerful than any other we'd had.

We spent Christmas day, opening up our presents. Sly gave me books on hacking, which I took an interest too. The whole idea of infiltrating websites excited me, perfect for later on in life. Murray had brought me a little RC. Chopper and moulded my face onto the front. He was always amazing at art. And I could rewire it to get it to travel long distances and place a camera on the front to improvise air reconnaissance. Sly had also gotten Murray, random clothes. Like some goggles and a maroon mask, which Murray donned as his wrestling gear.

Me, not being very good at choosing presents. Got Sly a homework planner and Murray a couple of coupons for random restuarants around Paris. Both tried to be thankful, but I could tell underneath their smiles, they were just glad to have me back.

"Oh one more thing!" said Murray, handing Sly a red leg pouch, "perfect for a little stealing," he whispered to Sly grinning. Sly strapped it to his leg, grinning broadly then he looked at me.

"Something troubling you Bentley?" he asked.

"I was just wondering who W.W was..."

Both of them looked at each other with grins.

"Where's Waldo?" suggested Sly smirking.

"Willy Wonka?" added Murray.

I laughed. Maybe it didn't matter at all...

**June 23rd 1995**

The end of school and the start of college came quite fast. There I was, reading through random courses advertising different colleges. The thing was I didn't know how much it would matter. Sooner or later Sly was going to bring up the Thievius Raccoonus ordeal. There was no denying we were getting around that age where he would want us to leave the Orphanage and start searching for the Fiendish Five. I shivered slightly at the thought, then Rachael walked through the door, smiling when she caught my eye.

"Hey Bentley," she said grinning at me.

"Hey," I replied, trying to sound cool.

"What course you planning on taking?" She said, staring idly at the leaflets in front of us.

"I don't know yet." I replied, half interested in the leaflets, half interested in her.

"Well.. I'm taking the I.T Course. I've already seen the college, it's pretty amazing, if you joined too..." she leaned against my shoulder. God, don't let the nerves kick in! "...I could give you a tour... Show you everything..."

Was she dropping subtle hints or being genuine when said she'd give me a 'tour'? Show me everything?...

"Yeah, i'm thinking of going now!" I replied in an over-excited voice and blushed, nearly slapping myself.

She giggled much to my delight. I loved her long black wavy hair, her clear blue eyes, her innocent but seductive smile.

"Uhh Bentley?" I heard her say.

I snapped out of my trance and realised I was drooling. Thanks karma, means so much man.

"I better get going," she said quickly leaving me on my own like an idiot.

I wiped the drool off with my sleeve.

"Nice going," I heard a voice whisper. I nearly screamed, Sly had appeared behind me.

"Where did you come from!" I hissed, I was sure me and Rachael were alone.

"I was just listening to your conversation," he replied with a smirk, "you were very smooth by the way..."

I blushed, "so what? Do you stalk people around school and listen to their conversations?"

"Yeah.." Sly replied in a bored, unfazed voice, "is that normal?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah. Perfectly normal mate," I replied, "no need to worry."

Sly laughed, "what course you taking?"

"I don't know yet," I answered, dreaming of the I.T course with Rachael...

**August 25th 1995**

I was pacing back and forth in the Orphanage kitchen. This was too much pressure.

"Bentley calm down!" Sly tried to reassure me. He was sat there chilling on one of the chairs.

"How can I? Oh no i've failed everything," I cried out.

"Wll you re-lax?" said a muffled voice. I turned round to see Murray stuffing his face.

"If anyones worried about their exam results, it should be me and Murray," Sly added.

"Boys," Ms. Puffin had entered the room holding three envelopes.

She handed them out to the three of us, before leaving without another word.

I just put mine down on the counter and stared at it. Like it was challenging me or something. Murray took one glance at his and continued eating. So, inevitably, Sly opened his first with an air of casualness. Both me and Murray watched him slowly for any clues of what he achieved.

"Eight passes. Two fails," he grinned.

Both Murray and I opened ours at the same time.

"Oh, how did I manage to get even five passes?" Murray blurted out happily, "I wasn't even expecting one!"

"Nice one Murray," said Sly patting him on the back, "what college course you planning on taking?"

"None! I'm getting a job at a local pizza place and in return i'm getting early driving lessons!" Murray replied, "what about you?"

"I'm taking Uniformed Services," Sly grinned mischievously.

"Isn't that to do with becoming a Police Officer, or Soldier, or whatever?" Murray asked curiously.

"Yeah. You know. Learn the enemie's tactics," Sly replied grinning broadly.

"Right on!" Both Murray and Sly stared at me for the first time since i'd opened my results.

"Bentley," said Murray softly, "how'd you do?"

Before I could answer, Sly snatched the results out of my hand.

"Oh look," Sly laughed, "nine passes, and two fails."

Murray started jumping up and down and even Sly patted me on the back. Both of them realised I wasn't joining in.

"What's up?" Sly asked, half confused, half amused.

"I tried really hard in P.E this year," I replied quietly staring at the big 'E' on my exam results.

Both Sly and Murray attempted to give me reassuring and understanding looks, but once they made eye contact with each other, they started laughing their heads off.

"Soooooo, what course do you plan to take now Mr. Bentley?" Sly asked, sitting down again.

"The I.T course," I answered, thinking of Rachael, "I am the tech guy after all of our team."

Sly smiled at me slightly. I wonder whether he knew I was thinking of Rachael of not.

"Erm guys, it won't be long before we go after the Fiendish Five will it?" Murray asked. I looked at Sly for the answer.

"No," he replied, "why?"

"It's just we'll probably need alot of money for traveling and living and stuff," said Murray looking down at his feet.

All of us seem stumped by this. It was the one thing we forgot, money. Many years ago, my father would of just answered that question by opening his wallet, but now I had nothing whatsoever, along with my two fellow orphans next to me.

"We'll think of something," said Sly firmly.

**September 21st 1996**

Okay, there was alot of things Sly and Murray had tricked me into doing over the years, but this was the absolute limit...

"Come on Bentley," Sly patted me on the shoulder, "man up."

"Yeah," Murray added, "it's only a big deal before you've lost it, then afterwards, you'll realised it never mattered at all."

We were standing outside our bedroom, with these two idiots trying to force me inside and lock the door. Trying desperately for an escape route, I started paying attention to a news report in the other room.

_"Multiple Orphanages all over Paris, have become victim to arsonist attacks. Interpol now see this as one big operation. The perpertators behind these attacks, clearly intend to keep attacking Orphanages..."_

"Bentley?"

I stopped listening to the News Report, and without thinking about it, entered my bedroom.

"Give her one for me," Sly laughed, locking the door behind me.

I gulped and looked at my bed. Lying on it, in all her glory, was Rachael.

"You ready?" she asked softly.

I gulped. Trust Sly to interfere with my love life. He told me I was moving too slowly with Rachael and she might move on. So he snuck her into the Orphanage and now he had me locked in the same room with her. God I hope I don't disappoint her...

**October 10th 1996**

"Okay class, tomorrow we'll be finishing off your assignments," our I.T tutor droned on. I was just sat in class, still daring to believe that the pretty mouse sat next to me wasn't a figment of my imagination. We got up at the same time.

"I'll see you at the Orphanage," she whispered kissing me on the cheek.

I navigated through my fellow college students and made my way to my locker. It was nice having someone like her, to keep me happy. The only thing to puncture my happiness was a note attached to my locker.

I read it:

_To Bentley William Wiseturtle_

_Meet me at the ruins of the Wiseturtle Manor._

_**W.W**_

I nearly dropped the note in panic, then scrunched it up and binned it.

How did this person now my real full name?

Did the Wiseturtle Manor still exist?

Was W.W who I think it was...

"Hey little buddy, you don't look so good," said Murray, handing me a slice of pizza as I arrived at the Orphanage.

"I feel fine," I replied shaking, not daring to look at Sly, Murray or Rachael.

"Do you wanna go on the Playstation?" he asked happily. Behind him Rachael whispered something to Sly and he nodded.

"Hey Murray," said Sly tapping him on the shoulder, "where do you get the money for all these pizzas?"

"There free!" he replied happily, "part of the job."

Whilst Sly distracted Murray. Rachael pulled me away till we were out of earshot.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Pressure of our I.T assignment," I lied to her, hating myself for it, "i'm gonna go for a walk."...

_15 minutes later..._

The Wiseturtle Manor, that was once an impressive feat, but now it lay crumbled and dilapidated. There was no reporters surrounding the area anymore, no sign of life. I walked straight up to the place, that used to be my home and saw a small golden plaque right near the manor.

I read it to myself quietly.

_**This Location was once the home of the famous Wiseturtle Family, as such the remains of the manor will be left untouched as a testament to the tragic loss of such notable celebrities, who's bodies were never found.**_

_**William Wiseturtle**_

_**Born - April 13th 1939**_

_**Died - August 17th 1986**_

_**Margerat Wiseturtle**_

_**Born - August 25th 1940**_

_**Died - August 17th 1986**_

I don't know how long I stared at the plaque. I didn't even notice the black limousine creeping up behind me. I wondered if Sly or Murray had ever visited this place. A door slammed shut behind me and I jumped and dived onto the gravel. I looked up at the person who had just exited the limo and could barely believe my own eyes.

He was standing there with his greying jet black hair, wearing a spotless black tuxedo and was smiling at me with those peircing black eyes. He only said one thing to me, to convince me who he was.

"Hello, son."

_**Ohhhhhhhhhh, Cliffhanger ;D**_

_**I hope that wasn't too long, and please try not to point the many mistakes, (which there inevitably will be ¬¬) I've been trying to get this uploaded as fast as possible.**_

_**The next chapter will be, whenever and will be very fun to write :D**_

_**Also thankyou, firstly, to BananaBOmb for giving my story a chance and reviewing each chapter, thanks :) secondly to cheesebread222 for giving me an extra source of inspiration by reviewing (I've seen your stories, get your ass onto the Sly Cooper stories right now ;) ) and lastly to Coopercarter16 (who I know locally anyway).**_

_**Feedback is much appreciated.**_

_**Thankyou for reading :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 6**

_**Hey guys. Thanks for all the reviews and for being so patient with this chapter, it's taken a while to fit all the peices together and tie up most loose ends. Also there might be slight swearing, not too sure yet, heads up anyway.**_

_**Also, why did someone PM asking me if I had died? **_

_**How could I respond if I was dead?**_

_**Never mind.**_

_**Anyways enjoy.**_

**History Repeats Itself**

I was just stood there in shock. Unable to believe the man in front of me wasn't a figment of my imagination or dead, then without even having to think about it, I jumped up and hugged him.

He was still much taller and bigger than I was, so he lifted me up and into his limousine. When I sat down in the all too familiar Limo, I noticed Gautier was in the driver's seat. This was like a crazy blast from the past.

"Gautier, just drive around Paris for abit, I believe Bentley will have alot of questions to ask," said my dad casually.

The Limo exited the remains of the Wiseturtle Manor and I just stared at my dad, barely being able to do or say anything. Then a whole load of questions came flooding into my brain.

"Dad what happened to the rest of our family?" I asked quickly.

He sighed, "Well for starters Michael has escaped from the Asylum."

I gasped, the thought of Michael on the loose was terrifying.

"He broke out, and the whole of the asylum was massacred," added my father, almost like it was nothing.

"What about the rest of our family?" I asked shaking slightly.

"Well, James is almost definitely alive," it sounded like he was choosing his words carefully, "your uncle was last seen in Monaco, but this was like nine years ago."

I sighed, it could of been worse, it could have told me they had all died.

"And what about Rob?" I asked, ready for the worst.

"Frankly Bentley, I have no idea. He just simply vanished. It's like he fell into a black hole or something."

I sighed again. At least there was no evidence any of them were dead. I was ready for the next question.

"Who attacked our home all those years ago?" I asked, biting my lip.

There was a brief pause before my father finally answered.

"We were betrayed by the _poorer _members of our organisation," he said the word poorer with a hint of disgust, "they were all led by a certian individual. They tried overthrowing us and taking our wealth and power but failed," he said with a slight smirk.

I was about to ask who this "certian individual" was, then another question popped into my head.

"Where have you been all these years?" I tried to speak in a calm controlled voice but my anger couldn't be supressed completely. My father seemed to notice this too.

"I'm sorry Bentley. It was too risky to try and take you away from that Orphanage. I did watch over you as grew up though," he smiled.

I vaguely remembered my sixth grade graduation ceremony and when I nearly got adopted around my fifteenth birthday.

"You were there when I was graduating from sixth grade weren't you?"

My father nodded. "I Thought you noticed me."

"And- And when I was nearly adopted by those badgers, you intervened and gave them two million euros."

My father nodded again. "Guess you figured our I was W.W? Pretty obvious really."

It was really strange. I could tell he had been planning this reunion for a long time. The whole thing seemed rehearsed.

"What are you doing now?" I asked.

"Still running the Empire," he replied shortly.

"Wait! What? I thought most of you died in the fire!" I said shocked. 

"No, Bentley. For the last decade we've been gathering our old members and gaining new ones. We've been working in secret though, still controlling the government, still running the world and no one's none the wiser."

There was a small silence before my father added.

"That's where you come in Bentley. You're almost eighteen now. Soon you'll be old enough to inherit the Empire and become the new heir of it, by my side."

I was at a loss for words. I briefly imagined saying yes and joining my father and the Empire, but then Sly, Murray and Rachael came into my mind and I knew I couldn't leave them.

"Okay dad, i'll join you and your Empire _if _you adopt my two best friends."

"Oh, who would that be? Sly and Murray I presume?"

I didn't bother asking him how he knew their names all I said was "yes".

"I don't know Bentley, they might get in the way of our Empire," said my father, now staring idly out of the window.

"How?" I asked, slightly angry.

"Well how can I trust them?" he asked in a calm voice.

"They're my best friends!" I nearly shouted.

"Sorry Bentley, but it's a no. You can still join me once again and together we'll rule the Empire," he said, clearly hoping this would work.

"What! No! I'm not leaving my friends behind. Just drop me off at the Orphanage, i've heard enough," I said firmly. My father just slowly nodded and Gautier made a U-Turn and started making his way down the country lane towards the Orphanage.

The drive was silent and awkward. I kind of regretted saying that to my dad. I mean, i've only just been reunited with him. Maybe I should just leave with him...

Then I imagined older versions of Sly and Murray, wondering what had happened to me all those years ago. The Limo came to a halt outside the Orphanage. I could see Ms. Puffin staring out of her office window.

A few moments passed and it was clear to both my dad and Gautier I was unsure what to do. I couldn't bring myself to leave the car and risk never seeing my dad again.

"Listen," I spoke quietly, "can I have your number? Just incase I change my mind or just want to see you?" I asked.

My father didn't speak, he just wrote his number down on a little slip of paper and handed it to me.

"I'll definitely see you around Bentley" was the last thing he said before they drove off down the dark country lane.

There was a small kid near the front doors.

"Hello Bentley," said the small kid in a slight french accent.

"Hey," I replied desperately trying to remember his name.

"You just been back from big school?" he asked with a smile.

"Erm yeah."

"Who was that?"

"Erm," I thought for a moment, "just a rich friend from college."

"Cool. See you later!" he replied, running inside the Orphanage.

I sighed and walked through the front doors. Straight away Ms. Puffin was questioning me.

"Who was the owner of that Limousine, Bentley? I vageuly remember seeing one on TV years ago," she asked me, staring me down.

"Just a rich friend from college," I said again, hoping she would leave me alone.

"Oh," she seemed to be quite relaxed, "well this will probably be the last time you ever see me, i'm retiring tomorrow," she replied sitting down on one of the lobby chairs.

"Oh," I replied, unsure how to react.

"I promise to take your family secret to the grave," she said quite firmly and walked back inside her office. I made a run for the stairs and made my way to the third floor.

I walked inside and straight away Sly and Rachael were both staring at me.

"Where you been little buddy?" shouted Murray, who was still eating the giant stack of pizzas he'd brought home.

"Yeah. Where have you been?" Sly asked in a more serious voice.

"Just, went for a walk." I lied, feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Sly took one look at Rachael, "come on Murray, lets go see if there's any drinks in the kitchen," he said, signalling the hippo to follow him. Rachael sat me down on the bed.

"Bentley, you look live you've seen a ghost," she said, eyeing me up and down.

"That's one way to put it," I replied, smiling to myself.

She got up and sighed.

"What's up?" I asked, staring into those beautiful blue eyes.

"Are you just lying to me, or yourself?" she asked blinking back tears.

I gulped. She had always known I had... quite a few secrets. Maybe I should finally get my family secret off my chest and tell someone, her even. Yeah, maybe after all these years I could finally tell someone...

"Rachael," I sighed, "this all began along time ago, with the Wiseturtle Family."

"The wh-"

Before she could complete her sentence. Several petrol bombs came flying through the window. Flames erupted out of thin air, and I found myself trapped in the corner of my bedroom, the bed and wardobe had been blown towards the bedroom door and were both blocking the only escape route.

I was struggling to breath, I couldn't see Rachael anywhere and I was about to die. I pulled as hard as I could against the furniture, but the bedroom door was still out of reach. Then I started to become faint.

Downstairs gun shots could be heard. The petrol bombers were armed by the sound of things. I backed into the corner, tapping on the wall like crazy. I briefly wondered if Sly and Murray were okay, and then the unthinkable happened...

A gigantic green hand, punched it's way through the wall, it grabbed me around the middle and pulled me out of the room and into the hallway.

I inhaled deeply and tried to break free of the person holding me. They were strong. Very strong. Maybe it was Murray? No, even he wasn't this strong. I looked up to find out it was none other that Michael, my long lost oldest brother. I started hyperventalating. He was a psychopath. He killed a maid at the age of six and now he had hold of me.

I was dragged down the stairs and onto the second floor. No matter how much I squirmed, Michael had hold of me. This had to be a dream though, then my dad's voice rang in my ears. _"He broke out, and the whole of the asylum was massacred," _

The Orphanage was still being bombarded by petrol bombs and Michael continued to drag me down the stairs. I had to go back! Rachael was trapped up there. Then (just my luck) the third floor caved in on me and Michael.

When I woke up. Sly and Murray were shaking me, we were surrounded by small fires and burnt belongings, the fire had actually happened but Michael was no where to be seen.

"Bentley? You okay?" Sly asked gently.

I nodded.

"We got all our belongings little buddy!" said Murray, helping me to my feet.

He passed me a bagpack, it had my RC Chopper, some books and the small amount of money I had in my wallet.

Sly had his cane and red leg pouch and Murray had his maroon coloured wrestling and racing gear.

We made our way over to the other survivors, Ms. Puffin was no where to be seen. Orphans and Staff Members looked burnt, some more severe than others. Quite a few of them were giving Murray nasty looks.

"He did it!" shouted one of the staff members at Murray who gulped.

"What!" He yelled in confusion, "I didn't cause this!" He looked at me and Sly for support.

"That's right," Sly piped up, holding his cane in a threatening manner, "Murray was with me when the arsonists attacked us, it wasn't him."

The crowd didn't seem to listen, they were all cornering us quickly. Some however weren't joining in.

"The hippo that attacked the orphanage looked much older though," a small girl pointed out.

Sly was swinging at the crowd to try and get them to back off. Murray was at a loss for words and was just cowering behind Sly, then we heard Police Sirens in the distance.

The entire crowd turned round to see a dozen Police cars making there way down the country lane towards the Orphanage.

"What do I do?" Murray whispered to himself petrified.

"You mean, what do _we _do," said Sly quietly, "we run."

Before I could even speak up, Sly had hold of me and Murray and we were sprinting away from the Police Cars.

"There getting away!" I heard a staff member shout.

We could hear the sound of a crowd running from behind us and the Police had actually gone off road and had started driving through the fields towards us.

"Come on!" Sly shouted, running towards a forest just at the end of the field.

We made it inside the woods, but we didn't stop running. The Police Sirens had stopped, so it could only mean one thing. They were all entering the woods to come after us. By now the staff would of told the officers it was Murray who attacked the Orphanage. Since we were the only witnesses, it would be their words against ours and I didn't like those odds.

"Down here," Sly whispered, dragging me and Murray down a dirty ditch.

We all caught our breath back quietly and didn't move for a few moments. Occasionally we could hear footsteps. I knew where we were, only a quarter of a mile away from the outskirts of Paris. If we got onto the streets we could find a place to hide out and plan what to do next.

"Hippo!" We heard a person shout in the distance. Next to me, Murray shuddered a little.

"Guys," I hissed, both of them looked at me, "I say we make a run for it."

I pointed in the direction of the city. Both of them nodded and we all slowly got to our feet.

Then without a second's hesitation, we bolted straight out of the ditch and made our way towards the city. I couldn't tell if anyone had spotted us or were chasing us. The wind was blowing wildy in my ears.

Several minutes later, we had vaulted over a broken fence and had entered a coffee shop to lay low for a while.

"What do we do now," Murray whispered as we all sat at a table.

"I have an idea...," I said very quietly to myself, looking around the coffee shop for anyone who might be listening to us.

"We have virtually no money," Sly announced grimly who didn't seem to hear me.

Both of them stared down at the table, they didn't know what to do. I did though, but my plan was risky, very risky.

"Hey Sly."

I turned round to see a member of staff smiling at us. I'm sure she was a few years above us in school.

"Hey Grace," he replied, attempting to smile.

"What can I get you boys?" she asked, notepad and pen in hand.

We all looked at each other and shrugged.

"Three of the cheapest drinks you can buy," Sly replied staring down at the table again.

She walked off.

"Do you reckon we should turn ourselves in?" Murray asked quietly.

"We didn't do anything," I reasoned, "plus I have a..."

"Get down!" Sly hissed as a Police Car, drove past outside.

It passed and we all looked round. Some people were starting to stare at us. It probably wouldn't be long until we were arrested. There was no choice, I had to save us all.

"I need to go do something," I said quietly to them both.

Both of them didn't respond.

Once I was sure the two of them couldn't see me, I pulled out a small amount of change from my wallet and used the payphone. Then I pulled out a little slip of paper I had been given earlier and phoned the number on it.

I held my breath for a few short moments, then an all too familiar voice spoke down the other end.

"Hello?" I heard my dad say down the phone.

"Dad, it's me Bentley!" I tried to sound casual as people walked past.

"Ahh! Bentley! You phoned faster than I expected."

"Dad listen. Everythings gone to hell. Me and my friends are in trouble for something we didn't do. We've probably got a few minutes before we're going to be arrested."

"Where are you?" he asked, sounding as laidback as ever.

"Pierre's Coffee Shop." I whispered.

"Gautier will come pick you up straight away, goodb-"

"Wait!" I nearly yelled, "my friends are here too. They don't know I have a dad! If they found out, they might ditch me for lying to them!"

"So ditch them," he said in a bored voice.

"No! Either you adopt them, or i'm as good as gone, this is your last chance for an heir for your empire" I hissed.

There was a brief pause. I wondered whether he had hung up.

"Okay Bentley, i'll adopt them, but your still my one and only heir, not your two friends."

"Understood," I replied quietly, my heart racing.

"I take it, the two in question are Sly and Murray?" he asked, yawning.

"Erm, yeah- how do you know that?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, we've been running data checks on your life constantly. Social Life. Physical Shape, quite bad by the way, and Diet etc. etc. etc..."

_I'm not going to respond to that._

"I can adopt them online with the help of Gilbert and I can pass the adoption papers through the governemnt without question. What are their full names?"

"Sly Conner Cooper."

My father mumbled in response.

"And Murray James Hippo."

There was another brief pause and I could of sworn I heard my dad chuckle a little.

"Okay Bentley, it's done wait for Gauti-"

"Also!" I interupted, "they can't know we're father and son. If they found out, they'd ask questions and find out i've been lying to them all these years. I don't want to betray their trust, it means everything to me!"

"Fine Bentley. I have a plan, so listen"...

"Hey guys," I said walking back to our table, nervous but excited too.

"You were gone a while," said Sly.

"Yeah I was just on the phone to a very wealthy professor from college," I tried to sound as normal as possible.

"So?" Sly asked frowing.

"We're more like Mentor and Apprentice. He's even willing to take us into hiding at his own company's headquarters, he even said he would adopt us" I added.

They both looked at each other in amazement. This was working, now only if my dad thought ahead then this would be sucessful.

"We'll be safe there. He's practically in control of the Police... but he won't arrest us," I said hastily as Sly looked shocked.

"Trust me," I said, feeling a little bit of me die inside. Why should they trust me? I'm lying to them right now.

They both nodded firmly and smiled at me. I felt even more guilty.

"We'll be getting picked up in a Limo by one of his workers," I said, hardening my heart.

Sly whistled and Murray looked dumbfounded.

Several minutes later, they were both in awe as Gautier stepped out of the limousine and nodded at us through the window. We took the hint and left the shop quietly. I was anxious, what if Gautier messed up? What if he called me Wiseturtle? Or mentioned something about my past...

"It's a pleasure to meet the three of you, my name is Gautier, Master Wiseturtle's most loyal worker," said Gautier, shaking our hands one by one. I sighed in relief.

"Wiseturtle?" said Sly with a confused look, "I remember that name from somewhere? Think my dad mentioned it once. Isn't Wiseturtle's company working for the government?"

I was shocked, Sly knew stuff about my family. Then I remembered that we were famous, only no one knew I was a member.

"More like ordering the governemnt about. We control the strings behind them," Gautier replied, gesturing us into the Limo.

We got in and he began driving. Whilst both Sly and Murray began eating and drinking whatever they could get out of the mini-fridge in the back, I was wondering where the headquarters would be now since the Manor had been destroyed all those years ago.

My question was answered when we stopped at a fancy looking place.

"Isn't this a hotel?" Murray asked frowning.

"It used to be," Gautier corrected him.

When we got out, Sly looked ready for action. There were Police reinforcing the building at every angle, and faces from my past wearing tuxedos.

"Have no fear, master Cooper. They work for us and you are not in trouble," Gautier reassured us.

We walked towards the building. I gulped as my father exited the hotel, briefly making eye contact with me.

"Welcome my new foster children," he said, patting us all on the shoulder.

"Do you still control the government?" Sly blurted out.

"In secret. I'm sure you're all aware my family manor was destroyed many years ago and I lost all my family," my dad lied, much to my relief.

Sly and Murray nodded, looking grave.

"This is my new home," he gestured towards the hotel, "you will live here, as well as work with us to build a better future."

I smiled. Murray seemed happy too. Sly however seemed skeptical.

"Do you work with the government? Or just for yourself?" Sly asked. I knew he didn't like the idea of working for the government. He was a theif at heart.

Before my dad could reply. A husky with snow white fur exited the hotel to join us.

"Would you like me to take their belongings up to their new rooms?" The husky asked in a very gruff voice. Maybe he was a smoker.

"Thankyou Raphael, third floor." replied my dad, without even looking at him.

"Haha, look at him, the peasent" said a old looking rhino laughing with my dad I remembered the rhino, his name was Aldric, I met him the night I lost my mother.

I realised he was indicating to this "Raphael" guy and remembered my dad telling me, the poorer, less snobby members of the Empire, betrayed the richer members. Here the idiots were, clearly not learning from their mistakes. I ignored him and followed Sly, Murray and Raphael to our new room.

We immediately handed our stuff to Raphael and began to follow him.

"I take it you're Connor Cooper's boy? Yeah. You look like him alright," Raphael said, staring at Sly.

"Erm- yeah. How- how do you know that?" Sly asked cautiously.

"Used to be one of his many partners in crime, back when we were teenagers," he added smiling fondly, "you look just like he did at that age, I take it your as good a thief as he is."

Sly looked overjoyed and the two of them spent the rest of the journey talking about Sly's life before he was at the Orphanage. Sly seemed really interested by some of the things Raphael knew about his dad. Murray was walking by their side, nodding along, barely listening. He was just gawping at the Empire's many staff members.

When we got to the third floor, Sly said his goodbyes to Raphael, clearly hopeful he would talk to him again. Murray got as much complimentary food as possible and went inside our new bedroom to join Sly. I was about to see what our new room looked like, but then I noticed my dad at the end of the corrider, he was signalling for me to walk over to him.

"What?" I whispered.

"You'll each be given individual training tomorrow, master Wiseturtle," he said grinning.

"Oh. Okay Dad. Good night, I guess." - The result of having no parents for eleven years.

He laughed. "Night, son."

When I entered our new room I realised my dad was still beyond rich. We each had a double bed and a mini fridge (much to Murray's delight). We all got cosy and settled in, so happy we'd gone from an Orphanage to this!

"Oh yeah, we all have individual training tomorrow," I yawned, pulling the covers over me.

"Cool," said Sly.

"Hey Bentley," I heard Murray whisper in the darkness.

"What?"

"Does it feel like your father and son with that Wiseturtle guy?"

My heart started racing.

"What do you mean Murray?" I asked, praying inwardly he didn't know.

"Well, you know you're both green turtles. Odd coincidence isn't it little buddy?"

"I guess you could say that," I replied quietly shutting me eyes.

It was nice that I was reunited with my dad and I was still living with Sly and Murray. It was like one new family, only I wondered where the rest of my family were...

The next morning. We were each fed by the many chefs at the hotel. It was like a massive living quarters for the Empire and lower workers.

Then our "indiviudal training" began.

**(A/N - Just so you know. I'm doing different POVs of Sly, Bentley and Murray, during their training.)**

Sly was to be taken under Raphael's wing and the latter promised to make him into a master thief.

"I take it you've been training to be a master thief since you were a kid?" asked Raphael, as he and Sly exited the lift and made their way towards the "training room."

"Yeah!" Sly replied excitedly, "Can you teach me everything my dad knew?"

"Ofcourse. Now, I need you to listen to me. This training might aggravate you. You might get fed up. If you want to be as skilled as your father, you'll need hard training. I need to push you to the limit."

"Dish it out! I'm ready," Sly said enthusiastically...

Murray was taken to the hotel's underground parking lot.

"Erm Gautier, thanks for helping me learn how to drive like an expert," Murray said nervously.

"Not at all sir. Now, what will be your vehicle of choice? A Limousine perhaps? Maybe a Rolls-Royce?"

"Oh. Decisions. Decisions. Choices of choices."

Gautier frowned slightly at Murray's speaking pattern.

"Oh. I know!" said Murray.

Gautier smiled.

"A Camper Van!"

His smile faltered.

"But sir, that is hardly of class," Gautier began.

"So? They're awesome!"

Gautier sighed. "Very well sir."...

Gautier found Murray a top secret government project.

From the outside this little plain blue Camper Van appeared completely normal.

On the inside however, there were all computer's of sorts. There was a fold out bed near the back next to the gadgets and both the driver's seat and passenger's seat were designed like recliner chairs, so you could go sleep on them.

"And that's not all sir," said Gautier, who seemed to have taken a liking to the Camper Van, "The Vehicle get's constant radio signal due to it's built in satellite," he indicated to the roof, "the exterior is bullet proof, that includes the windows. The tyre's are too thick to be slashed and can even take quite a few bullets."

"Anything else?" Murray asked, staring at the van like it was the love of his life.

"Yes sir. The radio is designed to pick up any frequency. It has a built-in navigational system and auto-drive."

Murray fell to his knees and began praying.

_"Dear erm, God,_

_I thank you for blessing me with this camper van._

_I see you're making up for getting me blamed back at the Orphanage._

_I have forgiven you now._

_Amen."_

Murray got to his feet.

"I'm going to pretend that didn't happen," said Gautier handing Murray the keys...

**(A/N- Back to Bentley)**

Over the years I had a learnt quite a few things about computers. And now Gilbert (my dad's accountant) was teaching me how to hack.

Both me and him were sat staring at a big computer screen.

"See this hyperlink Master Wiseturtle?" he asked, looking at the link to a company;s webpage.

"This site has constantly insisted to the public that the Empire is still around and operation, now your father eventually intends to bring us back into public eye, but until then we're not ready and these people are disrupting our plan. They've raised enough money to issue a manhunt for us, so we're gaining _certian information _from their website."

I nodded. Ready to learn the secrets of Cyber Warfare.

"First Bentley, you'll want to Port Scan a network beforehand to test if the site is vulnerable to attack, if the server is open and lacks any firewalls etc, then you should try using SocialEngineeringSoftware to get the IP address and any other vital information. If this should fail, you should attempt 'dumpster diving', but I hardly doubt you're aware of that term?"

I shook my head and sighed. This was going to be a long day...

At the end of the day I had a major headache. Not even my old I.T Tutor knew as much as Gilbert did when it came to computers. Despite my headache though, I was learning how to hack, an invaluable skill when it would finally come to us chasing the Fiendish Five. Who know's maybe I could persuade my dad to hunt them down for us...

I searched allover the place, meeting new members of the Empire who treated me like a long forgotten prince, until I found my dad sat on the roof. He was watching the people of Paris from up high.

"Hey Dad," I said, sitting down next to him.

I looked down at the drop and immediately pulled my feet up, just to be safe.

"You see all those people down there Bentley?" I nodded "We control them. And I don't mean the Empire, I mean me and you," he said fondly, staring down at the general public.

"What's your plan for public reappearence?" I asked.

"We already have an old friend of ours by the name of Agatha in government, waiting for us to return. She's already been dropping subtle hints were alive," he replied grinning, "when you turn eighteen, we'll make ourselves public once again, with you by my side the Empire will be born a new."

"Sir, i'll be taking Sly out to train in the night," said a gruff voice.

Both me and my dad turned round to see Raphael, with Sly standing behind him, looking hopeful.

My dad looked at me, "what do you think, sir?" he said, smiling at me.

I nodded and my dad nodded to the two of them. They both walked off, Sly giving me a strange look.

"Don't make it too obvious, i'm the real heir," I said quietly to my dad, once we were alone again.

"No, no, ofcourse I won't," he said rather quickly, then he grinned to himself, "why do you think Sly's become so attached to the _peasent _members of our organisation."

I didn't want to listen to my dad bully Raphael, so I just got up and left him...

The next morning, I woke up to realise Sly still wasn't home. Murray was just getting up too, so we both headed downstairs to the cafeteria.

When we reached the landing just above the main lobby, we could see Sly, Raphael, Gautier and my father all speaking in hushed voices around a tied up individual.

"He's definitely working with James, sir" I heard Gautier say and I moved closer.

"Should we leave him with Interpol?" Sly suggested quietly to my dad.

"We control Interpol," said my dad softly. Then he nodded and signalled for his police staff to take the tied up man away.

"Gautier said that, that man is working for James, which James might that be?" I asked, making everyone jump, especially my dad.

My dad pushed everyone else aside so he could talk to me privately.

"Bentley, Bentley. No one of your concern, I assure you," he said with his signature smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hey guys! You'll never believe what I did!" Sly said when my dad had walked off, and it was just the three of us.

"Just one sec!" Murray piped up, "you won't believe how rich this Wiseturtle guy is!"

"Well, anyone could of guessed he was slightly rich," I said quietly, trying to fit in to the conversation.

"Yeah? He has 7.5 Billion Euros!"

Sly's jaw nearly dropped off. I pretended to be suprised too.

"How did you find out Murray?" Sly asked.

"Gautier showed me!"

"Well it's my eighteenth in just a few weeks," I said quietly to them both, "maybe I could ask for some birthday money from our step dad and then we can start planning our proper future, taking down the Fiendish Five."

Both of them looked at me, and then at each other. Then Sly spoke up.

"We don't have to go after the Fiendish Five yet," Sly said. Both Murray and I were shocked. Sly had always been deadset on stealing back his family book. "I'd rather stay with Raphael for abit," he added.

Until this very day, I had always wondered why Sly was so determined to steal his family book back. Now he'd rather stay with Raphael than go get it and I finally realised, this was about finding closure after losing his family. That's what it had always been about.

"We'll have to see in the next few weeks," I said...

Over the weeks, we got stronger and more skilled.

Six days before my birthday, Murray had mastered Keysi Fighting Style (Improvised Fighting), his mentor told him, he had the right build for a decent fighter, but he lets his fears get the best of him.

Sly could pickpocket without fail now, he was a much better freerunner than before, which is saying something. A few weeks under Raphael's wing, Sly had become so skilled, the challenge of taking down the Fiendish Five became a joke.

These days I could hack any Police Server without fail. Me and Gilbert were now working on a new device for the Empire, a communication device which looked like binoculars, which we appropiately named the 'Binocucom'.

"If you look inside, you can clearly see the other persons face," said Gilbert as we were testing them out.

He was right, the 'Binocucom' could communicate nearly over 100 miles. You could pinpoint a destination or list of objectives when you looked inside them, these were perfect for heists.

"Hey Bentley," I turned round to see Sly and Murray waiting outside Gilbert's Office.

"Gilbert can I go now?" I asked.

"Certianly, sir."

"What's up guys?" I said as we got onto a quiet landing.

"Well Bentley, it's only two days until your eighteenth. Do you wanna go ask our step-dad for some money?" Murray asked quite timidly.

I smiled, "yeah sure."

This was going to be easy.

Those two might be nervous about it, but I knew my dad wouldn't refuse his only heir.

"I'll go ask him myself, you two go back to the room," I said, quickly walking down the stairs.

On the way down, I met Gautier and a wolf who I believed was called Richard.

"Sir." They both spoke in unison, Gautier's voice a little bit more posher.

"Hey guys, erm, do you know where Master Wiseturtle is?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Just downstairs... Sir." Gautier replied, both of them grinning.

I began jumping down the stairs.

Besides having to protect a pretty big secret from Sly and Murray, my new life was great.

I wondered if we were going to spend the rest of our lives in luxury, then I realised I was daydreaming and snapped out of it, since someone was trying to force the hotel's lobby doors.

No one but me was around and whoever was attempting to force the front doors was about to get in.

"Hey," I shouted as the lobby doors fell off their hinges and some familar faces entered the hotel.

The first was a Gorilla, who I remembered was called Quinton, I noticed most of them had guns. Alongside him was a hippo, who strongly resembled Murray and then my heart nearly stopped when I realised who it was.

James.

His eyes were fixated on me. And for one crazy moment I thought he might hug me.

Then he screamed, "Kill him!"

Before James and any of the intruders could attack me, dozens of Police Men (all armed), Raphael and my father all came leaping down the stairs, I was caught in between a crossfire.

I crawled to cover behind a knocked over table. I noticed their were alot more of my dad's men than James' and the latter's group were getting slowly outnumbered.

Somewhere, inbetween the gunshots and screams, I could hear James' voice.

"I'm gonna kill you Bentley! Just like I killed our mother!"

The gunshots ceased.

James and his men were retreating.

But none of that mattered to me. I was sure I had heard him correctly.

I got up quite calmly, once the chaos had stopped and the intruders were gone. My dad for once looked quite nervous.

"Dad. Explain." I said, glaring at him.

"Step into my office," he replied, almost mechanically.

I was trying to breath at a normal rate.

"Bentley what's u-"

"Did James kill Mom?" I nearly screamed, forgetting Sly and Murray might hear me.

"What- I...," he sighed, "Yes. Yes, Bentley, he did."

"And you never thought to tell me?" I asked quietly.

"Look, Bentley. It was no real loss losing her," he said very very quietly to me, almost casually, "I mean. She was a real fucking whor-"

"Shut up!" I yelled, "Shut up!"

"Bentley, it's about time you learnt. James was the one who attacked the Manor all those years ago..." my father began.

I remembered catching James talking to some of my dad's work staff all those years before the fire, this was all making alot of sense. It was frightning.

"Yes, he did murder your mother, he was trying to kill you."

I couldn't even stomach asking why he wanted to kill me so bad, I was briefly imagining what it would be like to be James. Secretly fantasizing about patricide.

"He also attacked your Orphanage, he's been attacking Orphanages all over Paris." I heard my father's voice say. I snapped back to reality.

"Listen Bentley, your mother was a problem to the Empire, Rob was a problem to the Empire, James is a problem to the Empire. If you're not prepared to get rid off those who stand in your way of power then you can't have the Empire," he finished.

It took me a few seconds before I realised he was refering to Sly and Murray.

"What! I'm not getting rid of Sly or Murray," I shouted, "i'm leaving."

"Bentley, i'm warning you. Do not become an enemy to the Empire, we could bring a massive torrent of shit down on your life so fast, you wouldn't even knew what to do," said my father in a threatening voice.

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever," I replied, walking out the room.

How would I explan this to Sly and Murray?...

"We need to leave," I said for the one hundredth time.

"What? I thought you were getting money off our step dad?" Sly asked. Murray looked shocked too.

Both of them were deadset on staying here, but my dad was intending to get rid of them both. I had to lie, for their own good.

"I asked for money you guys, he says we can't ever leave the Empire, their holding us back from becoming the Cooper Gang, which is why we became criminals anyway. Why are the Cooper Gang following another criminal organisation's orders?" I ranted.

"But... but..." Sly mumbled and I vaguely heard the word 'Raphael'.

I sighed. "Look I know Sly, but we're falling into the wrong crowd. These people are dangerous, incomprehensibly more dangerous than you can ever imagine."

They both looked at each other, unsure what to do.

"Look i'm leaving, whether you guys join me or not," I said quite firmly.

Murray nodded and began packing. Sly sighed and began doing the same...

No one stopped us when we exited the building, no one familiar was guarding the place, just corrupt cops.

"Where will we go?" Sly asked.

"I managed to get a little money," Murray revealed, opening his backpack to show at least a grand in euros.

"Same," Sly grinned weakly.

"We could rent a flat or something for now?" Murray suggested. Sly nodded.

I wasn't joining in on the conversation though. I was looking back at the hotel, at the very top of it, I could see a faint shadow watching us.

I gulped and remembered what happened to my brothers when they failed my father.

Michael was disowned and abandond at an asylum.

James was neglected to the point, where he considered patricide.

And Rob ran away and never returned.

What would happen to Sly, Murray and I?

_**Oh the joys of leaving you lot on a Cliffhanger.**_

_**Sorry I haven't been on in so long. I'll try to update the next chapter soon, still got a very long story to go.**_

_**Feedback is much appreciated. Even "Update plz" makes me happy, at least I know you're reading it :L**_

_**Thankyou for reading my story.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Family is Forever**

Chapter 7

_**First off thankyou very much for the fast and speedy reviews. I was not expecting so many in such a small space of time.**_

_**Also, yeah I know you can place the title of the chapter near the top of the screen, but I prefer doing it just before the story begins.**_

Eighteenth and Aftermath

"We need to get off the streets and find a place to hide out for a while," I said checking over my shoulder to make sure we weren't being followed.

Both Sly and Murray kept looking back at the Empire's headquarters. I could tell they were both already starting to miss the place. If only I could tell them why we needed to leave. I started walking faster.

"We'll have to find a cheap flat or something," Sly suggested, pulling his wallet out. Me and Murray did the same.

"We have enough for two people at the cheapest flat possible," Sly sighed.

"What are we going to do!" Murray moaned looking down at his feet.

I honestly didn't know what to do. I looked at Sly who seemed to be in deep thought.

"Okay guys I have a plan," said Sly quietly, "you two take all money we have and buy the cheapest room possible, meanwhile i'll climb up the building and you can let me in through the window. Simple."

"You sure this is going to work?" I asked biting my lip.

"What other plan do we have," said Murray...

We slowly made our way towards the counter. Sly had gone and stolen from a costume shop and due to my small figure, I was forced to wear a child's outfit for this to work. Murray was wearing old fashioned clothing and a white wig.

If the owner believed we were grandad and grandson, then we could both rent a really cheap room in disguise. We could hide out here for a few days, maybe...

"Can I help you?" the owner asked smiling.

"Erm, yes," Murray mumbled in an unconvincing voice, "room for an elderly man and child."

He stared at us both for a few seconds.

"Hmm. Okay. It'll be daily payment. Twelves euros please."

"Okay," said Murray, pulling out his wallet, making sure not to show his driver's license.

"Third floor," he said handing us the key.

I gulped. Hopefully Raphael had taught Sly how to climb that far.

The second we entered our delapidated room, I opened the window and sure enough Sly dived through silently.

"Thankyou youngster," said Sly patting me on the head. Murray chuckled.

I smiled. At least they weren't too depressed about leaving their rich lives behind.

"It only cost us twelve euros," Murray grinned.

"He said it was daily payment though," I pointed out, "we'll have to hide Sly tomorrow."

"How much do we actually have left?" Sly asked.

"Just twenty euros," said Murray, with a worried look on his face.

Sly looked around the room.

"We have food in the mini fridge," said Sly checking the best before dates.

"Is any of it in date?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"Most of it. We'll have to ration it carefully," said Sly in a business like voice.

Murray yawned. I only just realised we only had two beds.

"I'll sleep on the couch," I said, trying to make things better.

They both sat down on the filthy looking beds and it was quiet for a few moments.

"Bentley, can me and Murray ask you something?" said Sly, breaking the silence.

I gulped. "What's up guys?"

"Right. What happened to you back at the Empire? One minute you were all for getting birthday money, next your telling us your leaving. What happened?" Sly asked staring me down.

I sighed. I couldn't tell them the full truth.

"I saw a side of Mr. Wiseturtle that we've never seen before, " I said choosing my words carefully, "he's only out for himself. What if he decided he didn't need us anymore. He's one of the most richest, most powerful men on the planet. We were better leaving now than then." They both nodded slowly.

"We're going to have to be careful though," I added, "we ditched them. For all we know they might come after us."

Murray yawned again.

"Well, no point losing sleep over it," he said, "good night guys."

Sly shrugged, mumbled a goodnight and got into his bed too.

I found an old cover and made myself as comfortable as possible.

Now I was lying alone in the darkness with no one to talk to, my anger finally hit me.

I absolutely hated my father.

That poor excuse for a man, had no problem neglecting his children, he had no remorse for his wife's death and only cared about his little Wiseturtle Legacy.

It was weird to think James was hunting me down. Maybe he had been after me all these years. I shuddered and closed my eyes, making a mental note to try and find my uncle and Rob. That is, if they were still alive. I shook my head. _Don't think like that._

The next day we all woke up to a loud banging on the door.

"Sir? You need to pay rent," we heard the owner say.

We all threw ourselves out of bed.

"One second please!" Murray shouted, "just getting changed."

Sly dived under the bed. I threw Murray his wig, luckily we were both still in our clothes from last night.

Murray opened the door. The owner's eyes darted around our room for a few seconds.

"Twelves euros please," he asked holding out his hand. Murray gave him the money. I gulped. We didn't have enough to pay for tomorrow's rent.

"You enjoying your stay?" he asked, smiling again.

"Yeah. Five star perfection." I heard Sly mumble from under the bed.

"What was that?" the owner asked sharply, looking at me.

"Nothing," I replied quickly smiling.

The owner frowned and left quickly.

"Sly, what were you playing at!" I hissed.

"Never mind that. I'm gonna have to go get us some cash," he said, grabbing his red leg pouch.

I went to open the window for him and looked down at the streets. I gasped and closed the curtians quickly.

"What's up with you?" Murray asked.

I started breathing quickly, "member.. of the empire.. outside.. I think their looking for us.."

Sly's eyes widened. "Your kidding right?"

I shook my head. We both opened the curtians slightly and looked down. Straight away I recognised that wolf who was called Richard, he was definitely working with the Empire. He was talking to Gautier before James had shown up.

"It's okay," I whispered, "he's walking away."

We watched him until he got to the end of the street, then without warning he looked in our direction. Both Sly and I instinctively ducked out of sight. When we took another peep he was nowhere to be seen.

"Should we run?" I asked, my heart hammering.

Sly took a deep breath. "No, the owner wouldn't let him in. I think..."

I pondered for a moment if Sly was right.

"Right!" Murray clapped his hands together, "we need to take our mind off this. Maybe their not hunting us down. Maybe that guy isn't working for the Empire, or he is and wasn't even looking for us," Murray said in a reasoning sort of way.

Sly just shrugged. I knew better though. I remember what my father had said. We were being hunted down. He wouldn't let anyone threaten his beloved Empire.

"Do you want to watch T.V then?" Sly suggested hopefully.

"Yeah sure," I replied quietly.

"Wait. We have a T.V?" Murray asked, looking round the room for it, "maybe this is worth twelve euros a day!"

There was a brief silence then we all started laughing, which we hadn't done in a long time. Maybe things weren't going to be so bad.

Sly found the remote and turned on the small TV.

"I stand corrected," said Murray, staring at the shabby looking TV, "maybe this isn't worth twelve euros."

Sly chuckled softly then gasped. Both Murray and I realised what he was gasping about. There was a news report with our faces on the screen.

"Turn it up," I whispered faintly.

_"Some deny it. Some fear it. Other's are in disbelief. The Cooper Gang has apparently returned. Evidence has been shown that Sly Cooper, (son of the infamous late thief, Connor Cooper) has started his own gang with what we believe to be a turtle and a hippo."_

"Where's the evidence?" I asked outloud.

"Did they really have to use my school photo!" Sly whined.

"Sly not now!" I hissed.

A female elephant appeared on screen. I squinted to see her name tag. It said "Agatha." I had a strange feeling it was the same Agatha my dad knew.

_"More evidence from a confidental source shows Sly Cooper breaking into a supermarket. There is another man barely recognisable in the picture, given his size it's believed to be the hippo..."_

"That was Raphael though, not Murray!" Sly pointed out.

Sly stared into space for a few seconds. His face getting more and more depressed as he stared. I knew what he was thinking.

"Sly. Raphael didn't set you up. This was all my dad- I mean our step dad," I stuttered. Sly didn't respond.

That Agatha woman had started speaking again.

_"We strongly suggest placing the Cooper Gang in the Top Ten Most Wanted Criminals in all nations. Also legal bountys have been placed on their heads..."_

Sly turned the TV off. This was too much.

"What do we do!" Murray moaned, "we're being hunted by the empire, the government and the police..."

That day couldn't of dragged on any longer. None of us had any ideas. If we stayed here, we would either eventually be caught or run out of money. If we attempted to leave, we would probably get caught too. At the end of the day, we hardly had any food left in the mini fridge. Murray had called reception and was told it would cost him to refill the mini fridge. With nothing more to do and no hope, we had all gotten into bed.

I looked over at my friends. Both of them were fast asleep. Tomorrow we would have to leave. I checked my watch, it was 1:15 am. Maybe I should go see my dad, apologise for leaving him. I could tell him I would become his heir but only on the condition Sly and Murray were left alone. They would never have to see me again. I wasn't worth the trouble anymore...

I must of dozed off. It was obvious I was dreaming. The orphanage was on fire again and I was being dragged out by Michael. Only this time the second floor didn't collapse on us, instead he was still dragging me out of the burning building, chuckling like my father. He pulled me out onto the country road and I realised no one was around. No orphans. No staff, not even Sly or Murray. This didn't make any sense, then I remembered I was dreaming.

I looked up at Michael. He withdrew a rather large knife with serrated edges out of his pocket. I didn't want to move, there was no point. Soon I would wake up and we would have to leave the flat. I just let him stab me and I woke up... only to find Richard standing over me with ductape in hand!

I screamed which woke Sly and Murray up almost instantly.

Richard didn't have time to react and was hit round the head by Sly's cane. He dropped to the floor and we immediately began grabbing our belongings. Chances were more members of the Empire were closing in on us.

We bolted out of our room and came face to face with another Empire employee. I didn't know his name, but I knew he was my dad's financial adviser. Or as I remembered him. The rat in a tuxedo.

"Give it up kids," he sighed, "you're going to get caught sooner or later."

"Well until then we can wait!" Murray yelled tackling the rat to the floor.

We all jumped over him and made our way to the flat's front doors. They had been forced in by a crowbar.

Outside the streets were empty.

"Where do we go?" Murray asked frantically.

"I know a place!" said Sly running across the road. We followed him without another word, occasionally checking to see if we were being followed. Eventually Sly led us to an empty warehouse. Luckily there was nothing else around in sight except for a dense woods.

"We'll hide out here until this all blows over," said Sly, helping us through the smashed window.

Inside there was nothing. No lights. No beds. No food. We could only vaguely make out the interior since the moonlight was shining through the holes in the roof.

We all dropped to the damp floor and let our belongings scatter all over the place.

"You two go back to bed," I yawned, "i'll keep a lookout."

Both of them didn't say a word. What else could we do? Both of them made makeshift beds out of their jackets and fell asleep and I slumped against the metal wall watching the open window for any sign of intruders.

Occasionally I would nod off and reawake to see the sun rising. I bolted upright to the sound of heavy footsteps. The noise stopped. Maybe I was just hearing things. I looked at Sly and Murray to see them both sleeping softly. They didn't deserve this. This was my fault. My decision had been made. By the time they woke up, I would be gone. They wouldn't be hunted men anymore and I would have to put up with my dad for the rest of my life.

I grabbed my belongings and quietly made my way to the smashed window. The birds were starting to sing in the nearby trees. Before I could climb out of the window, a rather large figure climbed inside.

I screamed and in perfect sync Sly and Murray jumped up. It was Raphael. He wasn't holding any sort of weapon. He looked depressed more than anything.

"You!" Sly screamed, brandishing his cane and leaping at Raphael, who knocked him to the floor with one lazy arm.

"Listen!" Raphael shouted over Sly, "I want to help!"

"Yeah right!" Murray yelled. He ran at Raphael, blocked the husky's first punch then smacked him square in the jaw, sending him tumbling to the warehouse floor.

"You have to listen to me all of you. I want to help," he muttered, touching the place where Murray had hit him.

"Give me one reason why I should trust you," said Sly getting back on his feet.

"I don't want the Cooper name to fall apart like this. It's an insult to your family and Connor," Raphael whispered. We all looked at each other slowly and back to him. "I realise now what the Empire are like. When I joined. I expected wealth and power, but none of those things are worth tarnishing my dead's friend's memory," he said finally.

After a long dragged out silence, Sly finally responded.

"You can't help us anyway. We're already dead men" Sly replied roughly.

"No. We can stop the Empire," said Raphael getting back on his feet, "that's what you want right?"

For some reason they all looked at me for the answer. I thought of my family and how we all fell apart because of the Empire. I imagined my father taking on some random person to be his heir and that person ruining their own life because of it, and I wasn't going to let that happen...

**(A/N - For a paragraph or two the POV is going to shift to third person then back to Bentley. Just so you know.)**

The corrupt cops sulked about in the Empire's main lobby. They'd been given strict orders to keep a lookout for the Cooper Gang. They all laughed to themselves about it. As if the Cooper Gang would return to the Empire.

They were all sat down on the lobby chairs or lolling about the place daydreaming. This was clearly the most boring job in the world, until... the front doors were blown off their hinges (for the second time in a few days).

**(Back to Bentley's POV)**

Raphael ran in before us. Taking the corrupt cops by suprise. It took only a few seconds for Sly, Murray and Raphael to knock them all out. I honestly didn't know why I had come along. I was useless for these kinds of situations.

Upstairs we could hear the sound of people running around and shouting. Our entrance hadn't been too stealthy.

"You guys go on ahead, i'm going to go get my baby! I'll see you in a few minutes," is what Murray yelled before running down a flight of stairs to the underground parking lot.

"His what?" Sly asked.

"Never mind," Raphael said, "let's go!"

The three of us made our way to the first floor. Straight away we were inside the tech room and Sly and Raphael had Leonard and Gilbert (the twin moles) on the floor.

I checked the computer screens.

"They've called in more corrupt cops!" I yelled, "we don't have much time!"

Suddenly a cop kicked the door open holding a glock.

"Nobody move," he growled, cocking his gun.

There was a loud thump and the cop fell to the floor. Behind him was Murray.

"That was close!" he sighed.

"We need to keep moving," said Rapahel picking up the gun himself.

As quickly as possible we made our way back out into the hallway. The second floor seemed very deserted. We made our way towards the next flight of stairs when three cops appeared at the other end of the hallway firing at us.

Raphael flipped a nearby table over onto its side and we all hid behind it. He didn't bother to take an accurate shot and held his hand up firing blindly over the table in their direction.

We didn't know if he had injured them or if they were about to kill us. Suddenly we heard a high pitched scream. I dared to peep around the side of the table and sure enough there was a rooster running behind the corrupt cops, running with all his might towards the exit. My mind went into overdrive and I realised it was Edgar. He was there when I had first met the Empire's inner circle. He was the young, cocky, wealthy one. The corrupts cops had their backs turned. I foucsed on the situation at hand. I had to go find my father...

**(Back to third POV again. Sorry if this is getting irrating.)**

Sly, Raphael and Murray took the oppurtunity and lunged out from behind the table while the cops were still distracted. Sly and Murray tackled one cop each whilst Raphael shot one in his shoulder blade. All three of them were no threat anymore.

"Is he going to be alright?" Murray asked, staring at the bleeding cop.

"He'll be fine. I didn't short anywhere serious," Raphael replied shortly.

"I should of used my cane," said Sly, "actually where is my cane? Hey, where's Bentley?"

The three of them turned around to find both the turtle and the cane were gone...

**(Back to Bentley's POV. Again sorry)**

I was bolting up the stairs three steps at a time, holding onto Sly's cane as tight as I could. I stopped briefly at a window to see Aldric the aging Rhino, Agatha that corrupt politician and multiple members of the Empire fleeing down below. Maybe they were too old to fight. I looked at the front doors and saw a blue camper van parked right outside. That wasn't there when we entered earlier, maybe that's what Murray had gone and done before when we split up. The thought of Murray and Sly made me feel quite sick. Were they alright? Were they still alive?

I had to put my fears aside. If I knew my father like I did, then he would be hiding at the top of the headquarters, hoping his men would take care of us first. I took a deep breath and climbed out onto the roof. It was about time I faced him...

When I climbed onto the roof. I noticed my father standing with his back to me. I didn't know whether he had heard me or not. Then my question was answered.

"You got past all my work staff? Impressive."

"Yeah," I replied, "your 'personal army' never was much."

He turned to face me. He took one look at the cane in my hand and smirked.

"What's your plan now Bentley?" he asked taunting me with a malicious grin, "are you going to kill me?"

"No. You're going to be locked up for everything you've done."

We both began to circle each other. Waiting for one of us to flip and attack the other.

"Since i'm going to kill you anyway you may as well as know. I never cared about you, or your mother, or Rob, or James, or Michael or your Uncle. As long as my Empire and legacy is intact. Everything's A okay with me," he said grinning even more.

I felt myself shaking. I should of known from when I was just seven years of age, he was using me. He had always been using me.

"You've proven to be a failure Bentley just like the rest of your brothers. No matter. No matter. I can still find a replacement wife. Have a child. Raise him to become my heir. I mean let's be honest what did your dead mother give me? First she gave birth to an unstable, mental, psychopath. Then she gave me James the filthy half breed. Then Rob, the poorest excuse for a son ever and then you... Oh how I had hope with you. You were perfect. Clever and naive, the perfect combo, but your just like the rest of them. Useless, pathetic and soon to be dead." He began laughing.

I lunged at him. Every inch of me wanting to kill him. I managed to jump high enough to grab his throat and he was taken off guard. My father staggered backwards with me still gripping his neck. He was stumbling dangerously close to the edge of the roof. I thought for a second we would both fall but then he grabbed both sides of my shell and threw me to the floor.

I looked up to see my dad holding Sly's cane preparing to hit me with it. Thinking fast, I kicked him hard in the shun he dropped the cane and I picked it up, scrambling backwards and back onto my feet.

We were circling each other again. This time I was holding the cane out as a threat for him to back off. I swung the cane as hard as I could, but I just wasn't strong enough and my father yanked it out of my hands and roundhouse kicked me to the floor.

It was over. I'd tried my hardest, but my dad was standing over me yet again, cane in hand, ready to smack me round the head with it.

He pulled me up by my throat so we were at eye contact. "Say high to your mommy for me" he said preparing to strike.

I closed my eyes, expecting pain, instead I heard Murray yell and opened my eyes just in time to see Murray tackle my father.

We all fell off the roof and I barely just hung onto ledge with my fingertips. My dad was a feet away from me, pulling himself back onto the roof. Murray had attempted to hang onto the roof aswell, but his weight was too much and he had gone flying through the window on the floor below us.

I looked up to find my dad back on the roof again. He picked the cane up of the floor and began chuckling softly to himself. Without another word he prepared to hit me again, this time I would fall to my death.

"No!"

My dad turned round to see Raphael running at him. Without thinking about his own safety, Raphael tackled my dad before he could harm me and both of them fell off the roof. I didn't want to look down to find out what had happened to them, but then I heard a sickening thud and got a good idea what had just happened.

I couldn't hold on for much longer. This was really it. I lost my grip and fell, strangely for only a short time. I realised Murray had reached out of the smashed window he had fallen through and grabbed me before I fell to my death.

Before either one of us could speak, Sly appeared.

"Guys there's cops coming, we need to move!"

Murray picked me up since I wouldn't budge. I was too lost in my thoughts.

Was my dad dead?  
>Was Raphael dead?<p>

We exited the front doors and Murray put me in the back of the Camper Van I had seen earlier.

"Where's Raphael?" Sly asked looking back and forth at me and Murray.

Despite the fact police were closing in on us. Murray didn't start the engine, instead he turned to Sly.

"He tackled Wiseturtle off the roof. I don't think either one of them would of made that fall."

Sly didn't speak. Murray would never know how grateful I was he had spoken instead.

Subconsiously, Murray started the engine and we were off away from the Empire. Away from the police and away from father. Whether he was dead or alive...

It turned out Sly had stolen my dad's credit card and found out his pin number using the malware I had in my bag. He had also taken three binocucoms, Gilbert and I had been working on. A blue one, a green one and a pink one. How convenient.

We took shelter at the warehouse we had been hiding at earlier and let the last few hours of our lives kick in.

"Wiseturtle's gone and so's Raphael," Sly muttered covering his face with his hands.

"We're sorry Sly," Murray mumbled patting Sly on the back.

"No. It's fine. He's with my dad now in heaven. Back with his old friend."

Murray and I let Sly grieve in silence. Inside I was confused. As insane as I might sound, I felt no remorse for my father. Sure he was family. But he was the sole cause of our family falling apart.

We all sat there in silence for hours. We'd finally dealt with big time criminals and managed to get away. Since we had my dad's credit card we were now probably some of the most wealthiest people in the world.

Yes we were slightly traumatised at the moment. Yes we were grieving. But, there was nothing we could do. I mean you couldn't turn back time, could you?

A week and a bit passed after my eighteenth and it was now christmas.

With 8 odd billion euros in our bank we now had a fancy penthouse in Monaco. Sly and Murray had spray painted the blue camper van with flames and a 2D raccoon face on each side, then they had both rechristened it "the Cooper Van."

Our 'little mishap' had appeared on the news. The public were shocked a Wiseturtle family member had been found dead on the streets. Apparently with the collapse of the Empire, corruption was being dealt with left, right and centre.

Nonetheless the Cooper Gang was back. In all the chaos, Sly had placed a Cooper Calling Sign at the Empire's building to show his legacy had returned.

"We definitely need a break after all this," I laughed as Murray prepared our christmas dinner.

"Maybe a small heist internationally?" Sly suggest grinning.

I looked up and grinned too. "You know that's not such a bad idea."

**Okay guys. I honestly don't know what to say.**

**This has been planned out for a while but now i've written it, does it seem abit unrealistic?  
><strong> 

**I mean are the feelings in the right place etc. etc.**

**Well, I just went with what I planned and the rest of the story will follow just the same.**

**Like I always say, feedback is much appreicated.**

**Thankyou for reading this crazy chapter. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Family is Forever**

Chapter 8

_**Okay the last few chapters have been completely depressing. Maybe it's time for a little break from all the cliche tragicness.**_

_**Also, I forget to mention it in the last chapter. Bentley turned eighteen on the day his father died. I realised I didn't mention it after I had posted and I wondered if the chapter's title might of confused anyone. Never mind.**_

_**Also, WARNINGS! Immature/Vulgar jokes. Slightly offensive jokes. Maybe sexual implications every now and again, but nothings explicit. Some of it may get cut out but it's worth mentioning.**_

Of Cruises and Firestones

"We've never done anything on Boxing Day and suprisingly were not doing anything this time," Sly moaned, helping Murray take the Christmas tree down.

I peeped over my laptop screen.

"Well this should brighten your mood." Both of them looked at me. "I've got a new heist in store."

Murray stopped wrapping the tinsel. "Awesome! Where?"

"Mumbai," I answered.

"India?" Sly asked puzzled, "Who and why?"

"A Crime Lord by the name of Abdul Haziff. He leads a double life. The public think he's just some rich museum owner but in reality he steals rare Indian Treasures, redecorates them and places them on display for tourists."

"Why India?" Murray asked frowing.

"Well we've already gained a small reputation in France, but it's merely rumours and hunches etc. We need to take things internationally," I answered.

Sly started to grin. "How are we getting there? Plane?"

"No Sly. We'll need Murray's van so by the looks of things, were taking a cruise."

"A cruise. Well how long will that take?" said Sly curiously.

"Three months."

"Three mon-"

"It's a world cruise," I butted in before he could argue, "It has casionoes, bars, spas, theatres, ballrooms, all you can eat and even more."

Both of their eyes lit up.

"And... we can afford this?" Sly asked.

"We have eight billion euros Sly. We can afford anything," I replied with a grin.

"Ahh," Murray sighed, "I love being rich."

"We have six days until the cruise stops here in Monaco. I've already got our tickets," I said searching through copious amounts of paperwork until I found them.

Sly still looked slightly puzzled. "So, we get off at India I take it?"

I nodded.

"How long will the Cruise stay in India?"

"About three hours," I replied.

"What? How are we going to get to Mumbai, steal from a museum and get back in time?" Sly asked, looking at me like I had gone insane.

"We're not getting back on after we leave. We'll just have to lay low in India after the heist and live in random hotels for a while until we find ourselves in a country that speaks English."

Both of them looked at each other, shrugged and then both of them nodded.

"Oh that reminds me! I'll need to go down to the local bank and exchange some Euros for Rupees!" I said jumping up.

"Rupees? Murray asked.

"India's currency, Murray," I answered shortly.

"Okay. I can only see one problem," said Sly.

"And that is?" I asked.

"You and Murray are both eighteen. But I'm still seventeen. How will I get into bars?" said Sly looking downtrodden.

"Erm, fake ID maybe?" I replied, shaking my head.

"Ok. So what's my new date of birth?" he asked, smiling again.

"So you don't forget, i'll just make you one year older exactly. So April 21st 1978. Please don't forget Sly or let it slip your underage," I told him sternly.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied smirking, "I wonder how much alcohol they keep on board."

I groaned.

The next few days consisted of Sly and Murray going on a daily basis shopping spree. When I asked what they were up to, they told me it was all for the cruise. As for the fake IDs. We also needed fake names. I asked them what they wanted to be called. Their answers were less than satisfactory...

"Adolf Cooper."

"No," I said pinching the bridge of my nose.

Sly seemed to be thinking hard. "Okay. Okay. Robin... Write it down."

"Robin what?" I replied, hoping he was being serious this time.

"Cruises. Robin Cruises," he replied as casually as possible.

"Sly. I'm not stupid. Either think of a name, or i'll give you an embarrasing one."

I turned to Murray. "What do you want to be called big guy?"

"Erm, okay. My first name will be Chris. Just Chris though."

"That's fine," I said typing away, "last name?"

"No! No! I want a "P." for my middle name."

"If you really want," I replied shrugging, "Chris P. Last name?"

"Chicken," he replied. Both of them were supressing giggles. I read Murray's new name and sighed.

"Guys, be serious! We dont want to draw attention to ourselves!" I hissed.

Sly however ignored me.

"I'm cool with Adolf Cooper or Robin Cruises. And your name can be Bentley Noballs. No wait! Bentley Analrash. Yeah Analrash can be foreign or something. It's perfect!" Both of them burst out laughing.

I got up and left the room, only to find an abundant amount of luggage piling up in the hallway. I slowly retreated back into the room.

"Erm guys." They both looked at me.

"You can't take that much luggage."

"Watch us."

"No. I mean it wont fit in the van," I said, wondering how long this immature streak would last.

"Fine," Sly grumbled, "we'll only take what's nessercery."

"Just play it cool guys," Sly whipsered, "smile and wave boys. Smile and wave."

We were about to get onto the cruise. We all stared at it with wide eyes. It was easily half a mile long. The place was packed. All we needed to do now was board sucessfully. I could hardly wait. Whilst both Sly and Murray had space in the front. I was stuck in the back with computers and luggage. Bliss.

"Are they going to check the back?" Murray whispered gulping.

"Don't worry. Our 'stuff' has been carefully concealed," I reassured him, "Sly, hide your cane!" I added.

We were told to step out of the van by security as this was 'common procedure'. They rooted through the luggage. A bear picked up our binocucoms. I gulped.

"Aren't you a little old for kid's binoculars?" he laughed. I sighed in relief.

Eventually after checking our tickets and 100% legit IDs, they told us to go park in Lot C and gave us the key to our room.

The second Murray has parked the van, Sly had bolted out.

"Happy hour! Happy hour! Happy hour! Happy hour! Hooray," he chanted, skipping away with his ID in hand.

I looked at Murray who was chuckling.

"Don't worry little buddy. I can carry our luggage," he said as we got out.

Then multiple members of staff seemed to appear out of thin air.

"That will not be the case sir," said a male cat in a strong french accent, "zee will help you with your luggage."

"Thankyou," I replied, secretly hoping they wouldn't check my bags.

Me, Murray and the friendly staff members made our way to the room.

After they had helped us carry all our luggage into the room, I gave them all indiviudal (and generous) tips.

"Thankyou, Mr?"

"Wisepanda," I replied, "Patrick Wisepanda."

Murray snorted loudly and started fake coughing.

"Thankyou, Mr Wisepanda," said the cat and they all left without another word.

"Where do you think Sly is?" Murray asked looking around our apartment sized room.

"Probably throwing up over the boat or passed out in some girl's bed," I shrugged.

Over the next week or so, the cruise life became heaven.

There was a 24/7 buffee, much to Murray's eternal delight. It was great! I could find peace in the library. Sly and Murray would hit the gym together or head to the clubs or bars. Occasionally they would try to get me to join them, but it just wasn't my thing.

I was sat on my double bed, researching more about Abdul Haziff, when Murray walked in.

"Hey Murray. Where have you been?"

"Buffee," he said predictably, "I saw Sly down at the jacuzzi area. He says he 'requires your assistance'."

"With what? I asked frowing.

"No idea. See you later," he said walking out of the room.

"Where you going?" I asked.

"Buffee. Still hungry."

I made my down to the Jacuzzi area. Losing all self confidence as more muscular men passed by me with women in tow.

Eventually I found Sly sat in a Jacuzzi with four girls.

"Yes ladies. It really is that big," he grinned.

"Robin. You wanted something?" I asked, he turned round.

"Oh, girls! This is the one i've been telling you about. Meet Bentley Ten-incher."

"Ten-incher? I asked.

"Oi. Is that true," said a ditzy blonde dropping her alcohol.

"Is what true?" I asked, feeling myself go red.

"Adolf said you have a ten inch peni-"

"Okay. We need to talk," I interupted and Sly jumped out.

"How long will you be Adolf?" said one of the girls.

"Not long," replied Sly grinning.

We walked round the corner.

"Sly. Your going to blow our cover!" I hissed, ready to jump him.

"Am not. I'm just trying to get you a girl. Now, i'd recomend the blonde one. She's done things with her tongue i've never even seen a woman do before."

"Sly. I'm going back to the room."

"Have fun on World of Warcraft," he said, making his way back to the jacuzzi.

I decided to distract Sly from causing trouble and managed to convince him to join me with a tour group to marvel at (as the staff members put it) 'The Pure Water Sanctuary.'

"This better be good," said Sly as we finally got out of the line.

"Please make your way through this door," said a staff member in a bored voice, gesturing towards a glass door.

Inside. Thing's were less than 'good'. It was just water in fountians... allover the place. I could see Sly staring at me from the corner of my eyes and I decided to focus on the fountian in front of us.

Next thing I knew, Sly had dunked my head underwater. I kicked his legs until he let me up.

Gasping for breath, I could only just make out what he was saying.

"... you! It's happy hour at the Racca Wacca Bar! Do you know what Racca Wacca is Bentley? A bar just for raccoons! I can't believe I was talked into this."

I looked away from the idiot and saw the tour guide approaching us.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. One, please refrain from tainting the water, it's supposed to be pure. And two, please keep up with the tour guide," he walked off.

"Supposed to be pure eh?" Sly said grinning.

I sighed. "Sly. Behave."

"Fine. But if I need toilet, i'm finding the biggest fountian here"...

Although Sly's immaturity was aggravating, he did have a point. This tour was pointless and boring. However our other tour members thought differently.

Me and Sly were bumbling along at the back of the line.

"Okay everyone. We all done in this area?" said the tour guide.

"Yes," Sly yelled from the back, "yes. We're ready to move on."

"Ooo. This is some very interesting water," said a mole pointing at a dull looking basin. The tour guide immediately walked over.

"Yes. We got this water from ocean, believe it or not," said the tour guide as everyone (but me and Sly) crowded round the basin.

That's when I lost my temper, "are you people serious? It's water. Plain old water. H20," I yelled.

A short silence followed before the tour guide spoke up.

"Now. We can't have yelling in here. I'm afraid you've just earned yourself a rainy cloud."

"A rainy what?" Sly said, looking at me for an answer. I shrugged.

The tour guide cleared his throat. "A rainy cloud. It's what you get when your naughty. You get a sunny cloud if you behave or ask me about the water. The person with the most sunny clouds gets a free lolly at the end of the tour."

Everyone else began clapping and murmuring excitedly and me and Sly started walking off.

"Don't leave or you'll earn yourselves a rainy cloud!"

The crowd gasped.

"Oh heaven forbid," I said.

"Anything but that," Sly added.

A few hours later I was sat at a dinner table with Murray. He ofcourse had all the waiters flanking him.

"More brown sauce, Mr Chicken?"

"Yes, please." Murray replied, licking his lips.

That's when Sly appeared behind us.

"Guy's come see what I did!" he whispered excitedly.

"I'm hungry," Murray mumbled with a mouthful of food.

"What is it Sly?" I asked suspiciously.

He stared me up and down, then moved over to whisper to Murray. Ofcourse I heard him completely.

"It's to do with the stuff we bought," he whispered.

Murray immediately jumped up.

"I'll be back in a minute gents," Murray said, handing all the waiters tips.

Sly whispered something to Murray, I tried to listen.

"...he'll probably tell staff... trick him to wait here..."

"Erm, Bentley. Can you like, guard our table please?" Murray asked.

"Yeah, sure Murray. I'll guard it with my life."

Both of them scurried off quickly. Once they were out of sight I got up too.

"Man the fort soldier, i'll be back shortly," I said to a nearby waiter.

I made my way out into the hallway and saw Sly and Murray in the distance heading towards the "pure water sanctuary".

As I finally caught up to them, I could make out what they were saying.

"I've already been here Sly," Murray yawned, "got free a lolly and everything."

"I'm not giving you a tour. Look at the water."

I saw Murray's face drop.

"What. Did. You. Do!" He started laughing.

I took a closer look at the supposed pure water and realised it was all overflowing with bubbles.

"Sly. You didn't," I groaned.

Both of them jumped.

"Oh, Bentley. Good. Do you wanna come arcade with me?" Sly asked.

"Sly. Did you do this?"

"Ofcourse. What do you care. Answer honestly. Do you care about the water in this room?"

I sighed, "arcade it is."

Sly immediately suggested we head into the 18 over area for the "high rollers" such as himself, but luck wasn't exactly on his side.

"How many euros do we have left?" Sly asked as the slot machine took all his money again.

"Not too many," Murray mumbled staring at his bag of coins.

Sly looked over his shoulder.

"Right Bentley, you know about machines and such. Can you splice the machine for me?"

"What! Sly, that's cheating!" I hissed.

"So," said Sly, grinning. Murray nodded.

I sighed. "Fine, just keep an eye out."

I bent down and pulled out a screwdriver from my shell. Murray and Sly stood behind me and pretended to money into the machine.

In seconds I had the main control system wide open. Crossing the coloured wires together, I reprogrammed it to give out 100% of it's takings, instead of the original 30%. I screwed the lid back on.

"Have fun Sly," I said walking off.

Later, Sly and Murray returned with handfuls of euros.

"Bentley, you're a genius!" said Sly, counting his takings.

"It's getting late," Murray yawned.

"How long do we have left until we reach india?" Sly asked.

"Two months, two weeks, three days," I replied yawning too.

"Good," he said grinning and we all went bed.

The next day, I woke up to find myself alone. Sly and Murray must have already gone to breakfast.

When I entered the main breakfast hall. I was shocked to find people vomiting and dashing to the toilets in huge groups. I found Sly and Murray giggling to themselves.

"What did you do?" I whispered to them, scowling.

"We didn't put laxatives in all the food if that's what you're thinking," he replied.

"Right. You two do one more stupid thing and i'm telling the staff," I hissed angrily.

Both of them stopped giggling.

"You wouldn't," said Sly, sounding nervous.

I sighed. "Why are you two acting like this? We've got a big heist coming up."

"Yeah. In like two months or so. Right now it's relaxation time," said Murray.

"You're going to get us kicked off the cruise!" I reasoned.

"Not if we don't get caught," retorted Sly, "look, we've been through alot recently. Especially with the Empire business. Don't you think we deserve a break?"

Damn it. I was worried Sly would play the guilt card. Although those two didn't know it, it was my fault we'd got involved with the empire. They would never know how much danger I had put them, in becoming friends with them all those years ago.

"Fine guys. But don't go too far."

They both nodded.

"Bentley, can I go on your laptop now?" Murray asked.

"Not just yet. I'm just looking into a site called ThiefNet"

"What's that?"

"That's what i'm about to find out. The servers heavily protected. I think it's designed for professional hackers."

The second I had taken down the last line of defense, a message appeared onscreen.

_Your system shows no sign of Police activity. Welcome to ThiefNet. Please suscribe and favourite!_

I reread the message. This had to be a joke. Then I clicked on the message board.

_**TheRealCooper69 **_**: Damn it. Got caught by some masked dude in New York. **_**- Comment Posted 6 Days ago.**_

I laughed at his name, then read the responses underneath his comment.

_**ILoveThePolice **_**: Yeah. You're not the first. There's apparently a vigilante running round there. Be careful peeps. **_**- Comment Posted 5 Days ago.**_

_**TheUltimateThief **_**: He can't stop me. I'm pulling something big off tonight! **_**- Comment Posted 3 Days ago.**_

_**TheUltimateThief **_**: Damn it. He caught me and left me for the police. Stupid Turtle. Had to pay a fine and everything **_**- Comment Posted 2 Days ago.**_

This place seemed to be flooding with idiots. Then the idea came to me. Maybe we could get back to Monaco with the help of another thief. I went onto the search options and typed in "Transport." Immediately people came up on suggestions.

_**SkylineAssassin - I can get you from one country to the next. $500 Dollars (Currency may depend) per person. Aircraft can't carry vehicles.**_

I sighed and scrolled down the page.

_**WhalleyDaGangsta - Cargo Ship and Plane at disposal. Both carry vehicles. Will accept money, alcohol or drugs. Or all of them.**_

This guy sounded dodgy, but he was the only person on screen who would transport the van for us. I clicked on his profile, he was online. i tried to message him, but then it told me to sign in...

After making an account I finally spoke to him:

_**SpexGuy22 **_**: Erm, Mr Gangsta? Can we talk?**

After a minute he responded.

_**WhalleyDaGangsta **_**: What can I do for you lad?**

_**SpexGuy22 **_**: Me and my gang need transport from Mumbai to Monaco in two months or so.**

_**WhalleyDaGangsta **_**: That'll be a big price mate, £100,000 or no deal. **

_**SpexGuy22 **_**: Deal. We have a van too and we'll be coming back from a pretty big heist. **

_**WhalleyDaGangsta **_**: Sound lad. We'll meet by the docks south of Mumbai. What date?**

I thought about it for a second.

_**SpexGuy22 **_**: March 15th. I'll contact you a few hours beforehand. **

_**WhalleyDaGangsta **_**: Safe. I'll see you then.**

_**SpexGuy22 **_**: Thankyou. **

He went offline and I checked my watch: 11:43pm.

"Hey where's Sly," I asked.

Murray turned round from the mini-fridge, "no idea."...

We went out to look for him and suprise, suprise, we found him at the "Racca Wacca Bar."

"We just want to talk to our friend!" Murray shouted as the raccoon security wouldn't let us in.

"No way. Hippo. Turtle. Get lost!" The biggest one replied.

"Jerry. It's okay. I know them."

We all turned round to see Sly stagger over to us, bottle in hand.

"Oh sorry, Adolf. I guess we can make exceptions for our best customer."

We were let inside and Sly dragged us over to the bar.

"Do you tell everyone your name is Adolf?" I asked through gritted teeth.

He nodded. "It doesn't matter," he clicked his fingers and the barmaid came over to us. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded then walked away.

"Sly. Come back to the room. I need to tell you something in private," I said.

"Not yet, not yet," he grinned as the barmaid returned with three small glasses of a strange green liquid that smelt like liquorice. Sly turned to me and Murray.

"I'll com' back to the room," he muttered, slopping vodka down his chin, "if you two down one of these each." He gestured towards the three small glasses.

"What's in it?" I asked, holding the glass up to eye level. Murray took a sniff of his.

"Drink it and find out," he replied, downing his own in one. "Mmmm," he said loudly, holding my glass up to my mouth, "tasty."

Me and Murray looked at each other.

"I'll come back to the room once you've finished your drinks," Sly said firmly, but with his cheeky grin.

We both sighed and drained our glasses quickly. It was like strong liquorice that left a burning sensation in my stomach.

"That was Absinth wasn't it Sly?" Murray muttered.

"Indeed. How do you two feel?" the raccoon asked.

I wasn't sure about Murray, but I felt a nice buzzing feeling in the back of my skull and for some strange reason, I wanted another glass.

"That was delicious. I feel great" Murray said happily.

"Good. Good," Sly laughed, "another round?"

"Yeah!" we both said smiling...

Next thing I knew I was in my bed and it was morning. My head was killing and I had an aggravating burning sensation in my stomach. In the toilet I could hear Murray vomiting.

"Oww, my belly!" I heard him moan.

I looked over at Sly, who was sat grinning at me with an ice pack on his head.

"You were brilliant last night Bentley! Sure you danced like a burn victim being raped by a badger, but at least you spoke to some girls," he said laughing.

"I'm never drinking with you again!" I moaned, rubbing my forehead.

After that horrible morning which Sly said was a 'hangover' (whatever that was), I made my way to lunch, feeling sick everytime I saw alcohol.

I went onto the main deck to get a breath of fresh air and for the first time in a few days, I had only just remembered I was out at sea. I stared over the edge. It was pretty high up. There wasn't any land in sight, just the clear blue sea. I wondered for a moment where we would stop off first then I noticed Sly talking to some girls.

"Erm Adolf or Robin, whatever you call youself, can we talk?" I asked.

"Yeah sure. Sorry girls," he said, walking away with me.

We both walked a safe distance until we were out of earshot.

"What is it?"

"Well, last night I found an interesting sight called ThiefNet. It's like a chatroom for thieves," I explained.

He raised an eyebrow, "really, anything interesting?"

"No," I replied, "just people pretending to be you and moaning about masked vigilantes."

Sly laughed.

"But, I did get transport of a guy called Whalley. After this whole Mumbai ordeal is over, we'll be heading back to Monaco via cargo plane or boat. Much quicker."

"And you trust him?" he asked me.

"Don't ask me why Sly, but I don't think any of these people are going to turn us in."

He nodded. "Anything else you wanna ask me?"

"Yeah. You haven't been up to anything lately have you?" I asked, looking around the main deck.

"Well..." he started saying, pulling out a few keys from his red leg pouch.

Before I could ask him where he'd gotten the keys from, about half a dozen staff exited the main staff room behind us and seemed to be searching for something frantically.

"The guests are in uproar!" cried a male staff member. On his uniform, I could clearly make out the word 'manager'.

"How did all the toilet doors lock?" asked a hamster, also in uniform. I glared at Sly who was smirking.

"Well the master keys gone missing, we'll go round asking if anyones seen it," said the manager and he ran off.

"Wait. What does it like?" asked the hamster, but his manager had already darted off.

"Sly. Hide the keys!" I hissed, as the hamster approached us.

"Excuse me sirs. You haven't seen a key lying around anywhere?"

"No," said Sly, pulling the master key out of his pocket. I wanted to hit him.

"Wait is that the key?" asked the hamster.

"What, this one?" said Sly. There was a toilet symbol on the key. It was so obvious.

"Yeah," replied the hamster.

"No."

The hamster walked off.

"Sly," I whispered, "you're going to return all those keys back to their original owners, or else."

"Or else what?" he asked smirking.

"Or else, I'm modifying your ID to make you 17."

His smile faltered. "Fine," he grumbled.

After that, Sly started to behave. Both of my idiotic friends started acting like proper guests and the last two months of the trip went by quite quickly.

**"Next stop, Juhu!" **We heard someone shout down the cruise's speakers.

"That's us guys," I said as Murray started up the van. Ofcourse Sly was in the passenger seat and I was in the back.

"Aren't they going to get suspicious if we don't come back?" Murray asked sounding nervous.

"We have fake IDs. I doubt they'll wait for us. The cruiseline has a strict code. Either get back in time or get left behind," I replied, remembering their online website.

We formed an orderly cue with the other vehicles and were told to come back before six pm. We nodded, knowing fully well we wouldn't be returning.

"Farewell cruise ship. I knew you well," Sly said dramatically.

Juhu was thick with palm trees and beach parties. Music could be heard everywhere. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to the Blue Camper Van as we made our way to Mumbai.

It was strange. The second we had left the cruise ship, Sly and Murray had stopped joking now. They were deadly serious about our upcoming heist. Maybe I was too hard on them sometimes.

"Where now, little buddy?" Murray asked.

"Were heading west to the heart of Mumbai," I explained.

"You could just tell me where specifically," replied Murray, "the van has a gadget called 'the satnav'. Gautier explained to me this hasn't been released in public yet. Just tell me where to go and it'll give me directions."

"Err- Locate 'Haasan's Holiday Park'. My plan is to hide out there, while I research Abdul Haazif's security, then we strike," I replied, wondering how Murray could talk about the Empire so casually.

"What exactly are we stealing again?" Sly asked, snapping me out of my trance.

"What? Oh a Firestone. Exceptionally rare. I've been talking to people on . We could sell it to them for possibly millions," I said, watching Sly's eyes light up.

"I take it, i'm going to be the field man?" said Sly rhetorically.

"Ofcourse," I nodded, "and I make the plans and Murray's the getaway driver. Don't deny you've always imagined it like this."

Sly shrugged and began staring out the window. Since I was in the back I could only examine the interior; my laptop (which was key for the upcoming heist), a normal looking deodorant can (also essential) and Sly's cane. All of Sly and Murray's prank items had been either tossed over board or left on the ship itself, without the slightest trace of fingerprints.

"Man, this place is a dump!" said Murray as we arrived at the caravan park, "where's that Abdul guy's museum?"

"Five miles east of here," I replied. Murray parked the van behind a massive trailer. We had no intention of paying or staying for very long.

They both looked depressed. We'd gone from five star accomodation to a rundown caravan site. A nessercery sacrifice though, and it would only be temporary.

"I can hack into Abdul's security from here," I announced, "we'll only be here for a few hours."

"Great. What do me and Murray do in the meantime?" Sly asked.

"It's freezing," Murray shivered.

"There's a battery powered TV, and portable heaters inside my suitcase," I said, without even looking up.

"Can you pass them to us?" Sly asked.

A few moments later, all the van's shutters were down, those two were sat in the front watching telly and I had Mr Haazif's security in the palm of my hand.

_"Only one blind spot. Given Sly's athletic prowess, he should be able to access Airvent A," _I mumbled to myself.

_"Once inside. He can use my secret weapon," _I took one look at the deodorant can, _"perfect."_

I laughed, making Sly and Murray jump.

"What?" they asked together, giving me strange looks.

"Already done," I grinned, "you ready for this?"

Sly grinned too.

"Ok. So go over the plan again?" Sly asked for the third time.

I sighed. "All you need is this deodorant can and a Cooper Calling Card," I explained.

Sly yawned, "explain when I get there." And just like that he was gone.

"Idiot," I mumbled, switching my binocucom on.

"Don't worry about it."

I looked over at Murray who was watching T.V again.

"Bentley Analrash, come in. Do you read me?" I heard Sly's voice crackle over the binocucom.

I peered through and saw Sly's face on screen. I had to admit to myself, the Empire's technology was out of this world.

"Okay, Sly. Do you see that airvent directly above you?" I asked.

"You mean the one that's sixty foot above me? Yeah I see it."

I groaned. "Use that pipe to get up there. I put a screwdriver in your leg pouch, make your way inside and then-"

"Got it!"

In just a matter of moments Sly contacted me again.

"Okay Bentley, i'm inside where do I go from there?"

"Just ahead, but listen!" I hissed quickly, "the security station is full to the brim with guards. They rarely leave it. It's surrounded by bullet proof glass too. This air vent is the only source of ventalation for them."

"What? How do they even get in and out?"

""The bullet proof glass also has a door fitted in, which they enter and exit via ID Card."

"Even if I unscrew the vent and jump into the room, how I am going to take care of the guards?" Sly asked.

"That's where the deodrant can comes in," I replied.

"What? Have I got to spray them with Lynx or something?"

"No Sly. I emptied out the original contents of the can and replaced it with a powerful sedative, which I converted into aerosol form."

"So I just spray this thing into the room and that's it. The guards will all be knocked out?" he said, sounding a little let down.

"It's boring, I know. But perfect. The airvent you're lying in is the only way oxygen gets in and out of the room, the bullet proof glass prevents it. By the time they attempt to escape they'll be falling into sweet unconsiousness." I grinned.

Behind me Murray giggled. I spun round to see him clapping his hands excitedly, as Spongebob Sqaurepants had started on TV.

A few tense minutes later, Sly radioed in.

"Okay it's done," Sly whispered.

I looked into the binocucom. Sly was standing over a dozen guards.

"Locate the Firestone on the CCTV. Steal an ID Card. Grab the Firestone. Replace it with a Cooper Calling Sign and we all get the heck out of here."

"Any other guards about?" Sly asked.

"No. They never risk leaving their post. You've taken care of all of them."

Sly turned the binocucom off. Behind me Murray was still giggling.

"Bentley! Come watch Spongebob with me!"

"I'm okay, Murray."

"Come on, just one episode..."

**(A/N - For a paragraph or two i'm changng the POV to Sly - In 2nd Person -)**

He had finally done it. His first big heist.

_Dad would be so proud _Sly thought as he climbed down the pipe and bolted towards the getaway van.

He leapt through the back doors, only to find a strange sight inside.

"Spongebob Squarepants! Spongebob Squarepants! Spongebob Squarepants!" Bentley and Murray sang in unison as the programme ended.

"Uh guys," both the hippo and turtle spun round, "we ready to go?"

**(A/N - Okay, they didn't class as paragraphs, but never mind. Back to Bentley's POV)**

I didn't really put much thought into what this _WhalleyDaGangsta_ would look like, but as we loaded their van onto the dodgy looking cargo ship. It wasn't much of a suprise.

"Alright lads. One of you spexguy?" he asked, rolling up a cigarette.

I nodded slowly.

"You got the money?"

Me and Sly exchanged nervous looks.

"Why do you need the money now?" Sly asked.

"I don't need it. I just don't want to ask for the money at the end of the journey and find out you three don't have it."

I sighed and showed him the cheque (which was actually legit). He used a yellow marker pen on the side of it and examined it for a few seconds.

"Sound lads. Smoke where you want, there's beds on the lower deck," he smiled.

As we made our way back to Monaco we found out he wasn't as scary as his appearence implied. Me and Sly were sat in the van. He held the firestone in his hands as I posted our 'victory' on ThiefNet.

"Got any places you wanna go next?" Sly asked.

"New York," I replied firmly.

"Really why?"

"One, we haven't been to the states yet and two, I read something about a vigilante running wild round there. Sound's interesting."

Sly nodded and left the van.

I quickly went back onto the forums that were discussing the vigilante. I had spotted an image earlier that someone had posted. Though I could hardly believe my eyes.

_**PuffPuffPass **_**: Here's an image of the infamous vigilante turtle, without his mask on.**

I stared at the image again. Even though, they were lines in his face and he had shaved his moustache and his brownish hair was greying. I could still tell that was my uncle...

**Okay guys. First off sorry for taking so long. I apologise in advance since the next chapter may take a while too.**

**I honestly don't have anything to say except thankyou for reading my story and take care.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 9**

_Hey guys. Sorry this chapter took so long._

_First off to any trolls that want to join "your story's gay" then feel free. It doesn't make a difference really, you can't please everyone. There's no point in deleting their 'lovely' review, it would just give them the satisfaction, so let it be a lasting tribute to the troll who broke my heart and made a pretty good point._

_Secondly thankyou for the reviews. Wasn't expecting that many since the chapter was hardly important and slightly offensive with the Adolf gag. Also to ForeverFreelancer, yeah I was intending to bring carmelita into the story and it did derive from the Sly 1 cutscene but I had a better idea to fit her into the story that would work much better :)_

_And lastly. Sorry for the taking soooooooooo long. I've tried to compensate by making this extra long. There will probably be many mistakes i've missed so sorry._

_On with the chapter._

**Vigilante Justice**

"Ahh Back in Monaco," Sly sighed, as we drove back to our penthouse.

Murray ofcourse was driving while I was in the back on Thiefnet. Staring at my uncle's picture.

"How much you selling the Firething for Bentley?" Murray asked.

"Fifty thousand pounds," I replied, feeling like we had wasted alot of money.

"Damn," Murray mumbled.

"What's up with you?" Sly aksed him curiously.

"Nothing pal. Just we lost more than we earnt."

I silently agreed.

"Woah. Woah. Stop this car, right now!" Sly said. Though I couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not.

Murray shrugged and parked on a hard shoulder. Then we both waited for the raccoon to speak.

"Since when have Coopers cared about profit?" Sly asked, looking back and forth between us.

"We're not Coopers though," said Murray.

"You're members of the gang and we're all adoptive brothers. So I would say yes, you are Coopers. Back to the point. It's not about how much we earned or lost. Why do you think none of my ancestors got caught by the Police?"

"Because they were all master thieves," I replied, wanting to get back to the penthouse.

"Well yeah that, and one more thing," Sly grinned.

"What?" Murray asked excited.

"Because they didn't think like normal criminals." Murray and I looked at each other confused.

"Think about it," Sly added, "police know most criminals are after money and things of value etc. They can figure out how to outsmart them by baiting them with expensive items. Cooper's do it for the thrill of things and the fun. We're random, making us hard to predict or trace. Never forget this guys, as long as you're enjoying yourselves, then the mission's a sucess!" Sly stopped speaking.

Murray and I started clapping.

"What are you doing?" Sly asked.

"Being random. Are we Cooper enough now?" I replied.

When we returned to the Monaco Penthouse things were not good.

We had parked down the road from the penthouse to find Police swarming the place. They were carrying out items that belonged to us. Nothing important though, just the electronics and furniture.

"How did the police find our hideout?" Sly asked.

"More of a safehouse really," I reasoned, "there's nothing of value in there, let's get outta here."

Both of them nodded.

"Where we heading little buddy?" Murray asked.

"New York."

"Really why?" he asked.

"He heard something about a vigilante running loose in the city and wanted to check it out," Sly answered.

"How are we going get there with the van?" they both asked in unison.

"I'm already speaking to Whalley," I replied.

"Really lads, you're my best customers in a long time," said Whalley, as we rocked back and forth on the Cargo Ship again.

"I'm gonna be sick" Murray moaned.

"Exit's there mate," Whalley replied, lighting a cigarette.

Murray ran out onto deck and we were all treated for the next few hours to the sounds of Murray heaving. _Perfect_.

New York Bay was pretty quiet at half four in the morning.

"Here's another cheque for £100,000," I handed the Walrus his latest cheque. He was going to be loaded in no time.

"Nah lad. I'd feel tight. Just give me half instead," he replied, straightening his white hat.

"Oh. Cheers man," I said, rewriting a new cheque.

"It's sound lad. See ya' later."

"See ya' later," I replied.

"You know he's grown on me," Sly said as we quietly left New York harbour.

In the distance the Empire State Building's lights were being turned off.

"Is that because you both wear hats or something?" I asked, staring at the picture of my uncle. I really didn't know why I did. I guess it was just closure or something.

"Maybe," Sly yawned.

Murray parked the van opposite from Central Park.

"Where are we going to hide out?" Murray asked.

"Somewhere moderate," I replied, "but first i'm creating fake names for us- And no you're not picking names," I said quickly as they both opened their mouths.

A few minutes later I handed them there new names, smirking to myself.

"Hooray! Chris P. Chicken returns!" Murray cheered as he recieved his.

"Sheldon Le'Failure?" Sly questioned his new name.

"It's French," I replied with a straight face.

"Make me a new I.D."

"I'm okay Sly."

He sulked at his new I.D for a few seconds, then his eyes lit up.

"I refuse to accept my new identity... unless I get to make yours."

I shrugged. "Go ahead. Just don't make it too obvious."

After Sly had created my new alias ("Richard Stroker"), we made our way to a three star hotel. Nothing too fancy, so we don't make the same mistake twice.

"Remember Bentley, you don't like being called by your full name," Sly babbled on as we approached the counter, "only the short version of it."

"What's short for Richard?" Murray asked, "Richie?"

"No. Bentley, what is it?" Sly asked.

I thought about it for a second. "Well played Sly. I didn't even realise."

"Hello there! Welcome to The Blue Skies Hotel. How may I help you?" said the panda at the front desk with a strange smile.

"Hey, me and my college buddies would like a room for three please," said Sly with a terribly fake Brooklyn accent. Murray snorted a little.

"We have one on the first floor. How long will you be staying?" He asked us, still forcing that creepy smile.

"Uhh," Sly looked at me, I shrugged, "well we don't really know to be honest. How about we pay as we go?" Sly asked nervously.

"Why is Sly talking about Monopoly?" Murray whispered in my ear.

The panda paused for a second. "That'll be fine. Sixty dollars please and i'll need some ID."

I looked at Sly and Murray. I just hoped this guy dealed with teenagers who had strange names all the time...

After we had finally convinced the panda that our names were legit (and acted completely offended) we were given the key to our room.

"Again, my apologies, Mr. Stroker, Mr. Chicken, and Mr. Le'Failure. Please have a nice stay."

We gave the staff one last snobby look and made our way upstairs, agreeing with each other not to make immature ID's anymore.

Inside our hotel room. Thing's were... okay I guess.

Looking around, we had three single beds lined up next to each other with a Digital TV opposite. There was just one bathroom for us and there was a small counter and a cupboard which I guess classed as the kitchen.

"Nothing too fancy, right Bentley?" Sly forced a smile, looking round the room.

"Last place the police would look," I retorted.

"So what's the plan?" Murray asked.

"Unpack. Have dinner. Search ThiefNet for any news about the vigilante and then attempt to track him down," I replied.

"Why?" Sly asked.

"He's caught so many thieves on here, he's made himself infamous," I replied, knowing I was sparking Sly's interest, "think you can beat him?"

The raccoon grinned. "Challenge Accepted!"

_Several Hours Later..._

"That would be lovely. Thanks again," said Sly to a group of animals as he open the door to our room. They nodded and he closed the door behind him.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Just made some friends down at the bar, looks like we're having dinner with them tonight," Sly replied grinning.

"Does anyone know what the soup of the day is?" Murray asked, "I got lost on the way downstairs earlier."

"Just make sure you don't let it slip you're a thief," I said to Sly, "and it's potato and leek," I added to Murray.

The hippo licked his lips.

"Relax Bentley, we're better of displaying charisma and confidence, like we have nothing to hide, rather than being shut-in and suspicious," Sly retorted.

True, I thought.

"So, I take it we're going to track down this famed vigilante after dinner?" the raccoon asked me.

I nodded.

"Any leads?"

"None unfortunately," I replied, "so we're going to seperate to try and find him. Sly you search from the rooftops, Murray you drive round in the van and i'll walk the streets. Chances are one of us will track him down."

The two of them nodded.

"Better get ready," said Sly hastily as he checked his watch...

We'd all decided to dress nice in an attempt to begin fitting in with normal.

Sly gelled his fringe up and took of his signature bandit mask which he usally wore over his eyes. He decided not to overdo it, but decided to wear a black dinner attire with a matching bow tie. He made a good example of 'a playboy bachelor' from my point of view.

I pretty much followed Sly's idea since I didn't have even the faintest fashion sense. Murray went for a normal tie instead of Sly's and ended up looking like a business men. Not that any of us cared unless it attracted attention, but I highly doubt it will.

Sly's friends turned out be happy-go-lucky couples in their early thirties. It was nice to surround ourselves with loud jokers.

"... so anyway, last summer we went to Paris. You been to Paris?" the male mammoth asked us, finishing his second steak.

"Can't say we have," Sly replied smiling, "yes, thankyou," he added to a waiter, who poured him a generous amount of red wine.

"Brilliant place," the mammoth said, "went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Madge here nearly throw up," he gestured to his wife next to him and made a loud obnoxious laugh.

Madge (who I presumed was his wife) joined in, followed shortly by their other friends and Sly and Murray. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves.

After the laughter died down, the mammoth began giving us more trivial anecdotes.

"Ofcourse we should gone during Christmas time," he said hiccuping, "apparently some shootout happened a week before Christmas. It had something to do with an empire or something," he pondered outloud, before shrugging and picking up the dessert's menu.

"Sound's interesting. Wish I could of seen that," said Sly with a faint smirk...

After the dinner party, we excused ourselves and thanked them for the nice meal. The second we got back to our room, we ditched the dinner attire and began packing the essentials for tonight.

I immediately got onto ThiefNet to search for anything about my uncle, A.K.A 'the infamous vigilante'.

"Where's my red leg pouch?" Sly asked, putting his bandit mask back on.

"On your bed," I answered, switching off the laptop.

"What should I do if I find the vigilante?" Murray asked nervously.

"Just tell us over the binnocucom and we'll meet up," I replied, "plus we could probably pull off a little heist or joke right under his nose," I added, hoping to excite them both.

It worked.

Now, deep down this killed me, but I was still keeping my family secret away from Sly and Murray. I had been planning this through since I had found my uncle's picture online.

While distracting Sly and Murray by sending them to search for one man in New York, I would be leaving a message for my uncle, indicating I knew who he was. I had finally come to the conclusion it was way too late to reveal my family secret to my two 'brothers'. I had this gut feeling things would turn awkward, the trust I tried to return so badly would shatter just like that and I would be all alone again.

Don't get me wrong, I truly cared about Sly and Murray but I just couldn't tell them about my family. It was my traumatic curse. Not theirs.

"I'll get onto the hotel roof and begin scaling the rooftops for our vigilante 'friend'" said Sly, opening the window, "see ya' later," and just like that he was gone.

"Murray, i'll join you in the van. You drop me off at Christopher Street, then you can began your own search," I explained, grabbing a black hoodie. Along with my matching combats I did look slightly suspicous, but no point going out in flouresent pink.

Evenutally Murray dropped me off near a place called 'the Stonewall Inn'. Thankfully things were quite quiet. On our journey/sight see from New York Bay to the The Blue Skies Hotel, I had spotted a rather large billboard when Murray had driven through this part. All I need now for my plan were components.

I found a general supples store, it was close to closing so it was now or never. Inside I brought some paint cans and a paint roller, along with a fold out step ladder.

"Decorating your house I take it?" the woman said, smiling from behind the counter.

"That's right," I said, almost mechanically, but my acting was improving.

I placed the cans and rollers in my back pack and carried the step ladder from the store to a dense woody area in the suburbs, which was conveniently right next to the billboard I was searching for.

The next part of my plan was simple but boring.

Wait.

Maybe an hour passed before everything began to die down. Less people could be heard walking past. I just sat in the bushes, wondering if Sly or Murray had ran into my uncle yet.

Occasionally a voice in my heard told me to just leave it. It was too risky and pointless. I was no stranger to fear and how it manipulated to back out of things, but right now this might be my only shot to find my Uncle so the fear was going to be supressed.

I unfolded the stepladder and placed it directly underneath the billboard. Right now things were deadly quiet. I checked my watch. 1:13 AM.

Once I was up on the billboard, I unzipped my bag, pulling out the paint cans and the roller then I spent the next forty odd minutes leaving a message painted over some advertised sitcom.

I climbed down off the ladder. Another advantage to the densy wood area was there was a small (but deep) pond in the centre. The ladder, the roller and the empty paint cans were left at the bottom of it and I decided it was time to call it a night.

Making my way out onto the normal path, I looked back at the billboard. It read:

_**Seymour Wiseturtle. Meet me at the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday at 11 pm.**_

Hopefully this 'act of vandalism' would attract alot of media attention. My Uncle would most likely check the news alot, to see if he had been found out yet. This plan had a 83.7% chance of sucess, if I did my math right and I always do my math right.

Even if the Police did show up at the Empire State Building. All they would find was either a young lonely turtle or an uncle and his nephew reunited. Both cases were not suspicous... damn it, this thief life had me overthinking everything...

Back at the hotel, Sly and Murray were already back and watching 'Extreme Police Force' on TV.

"No luck either?" Sly asked, as I took my gear off.

"No. We just need to keep trying," I replied.

"Yeah," Sly said slowly, like he wanted to say something else.

"What's up?" I asked, grabbing a can of coke from the mini fridge.

There was a brief pause and Sly turned the television down.

"I was just wondering when we going to hunt down the Fiendish Five and get my book back?" he said quietly.

"Whenever you want buddy," Murray replied almost straight away.

I didn't respond. I had made a pact years ago to help Sly get his family heirloom back and avenge his parents but right now I was so close to finding my Uncle. I couldn't lose him again.

"We'll have to do some research on them," I added.

Then another problem hit me. If I did meet my uncle, how would I stay with him and hunt down the Fiendish Five at the same time? It was one or the other and either way I was going to lose someone.

I was stumped.

"Hey can we order some food?" Murray asked, snapping me out of my trance.

"At quarter past two in the morning?" Sly asked.

"Yeah! A very nice member of staff told me we can order food at any time we want!" Murray cheered.

In no time we had pizza and fries sent to our room. I was glad Murray had changed the subject. Sly didn't say another word about the Fiendish Five, though I was sure it was on his mind. Now Raphael was long gone, what would he have for closure other than revenge?

The next day I woke up around one-ish. Just one more day and I could see my uncle. Both Sly and Murray were out of the room. A tray of breakfast was on the bedside. I guess they had both saved me some food.

Feeling slightly guilty about going against the pact I had made all those years ago, I decided to turn on the laptop and started searching for the Fiendish Five, unsure of where this would all lead...

"Hey Bentley. 'Bout time you got up," Sly laughed as he entered the room, "what you up to?"

I'm glad you asked, I thought. "Just researching about the Fiendish Five," I replied.

He quickly came over to me and I turned the laptop towards him.

"You found any of them yet?"

"No. They haven't made this easy. Although there is evidence they disbanded quite some time ago. If anything, this'll make things easier for us. Instead of it being a 5 on 3 fight, we can systematically take them down."

Sly smiled and I suddenly felt elated.

"Once we have a full understanding on them, we'll make a play for your heirloom. In the meantime, this vigilante seems to be getting more and more popular," I added showing him ThiefNet. where the forums were crashing due to my uncle's rising fame.

"Damn," Sly whispered, "we going after him tonight again?"

"No. I wanted to stay here and research more about the Fiendish Five," I said (truthfully too).

Since I was planning on meeting my uncle tomorrow, it seemed pointless to attempt a stab in the dark search tonight.

Sly seemed even more happy. Even though he was always immature, I was glad to help him. Maybe this would make up for all the years I had been lying to him and Murray...

Unfortunately there was nothing else I could find on the Fiendish Five. Sources indicated Interpol only kept one file on them somewhere. While this narrowed our seach down to one doccument, it could still be anywhere.

That night I kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep with tomorrow night coming up...

This was it. I was heading down Madison Avenue and making my way towards 5th Avenue. The Empire State Building was close.

I immediately took the elevator to the top along with a small family and a gorilla who had his hood up. I checked my watch; 22:39. Not much longer.

A few more minutes passed and we reached the top of the tower. I got out slowly, checking my surroundings. No sign of him.

New York looked so brilliant from down below. I shivered a little as the wind picked up. The clouds ahead were extremely dark. But it didn't matter, I would wait in the pouring rain for him all night if I had too...

Twenty minutes passed. It was already past Eleven I was beginning to lose hope. More time passed. He wasn't coming.

Why would he really? He didn't know it was me waiting for him. And I couldn't exactly said it was me on the billboard or Sly and Murray might notice. I forgot about waiting all night and so I did the only thing I could do.

I left. Completely downtrodden.

Predicatably it began to rain as I made my way back to the hotel. As dark as they were, the alleyways were by far my most safest option. Or at least there were no Police there.

_Only one more alleyway then home, _I thought.

Looking back at the Empire State Building, I wondered if he was up there right now. I turned round to keep walking and saw a Weasel staring at me next to that Gorilla from earlier.

Maybe they were muggers...

"Can I help you?" I asked cautiously.

The weasel just chuckled to himself, "James! It's him."

Immediately about ten other men leapt off the rooftops above and surrounded me. Some of them were ex-Empire employees who betrayed my father for James... which only meant he could be here too.

"Thank you Marcel."

I turned round and there he was.

Standing there with a small smirk on his face. The dark pink hybrid of a hippo and a turtle stared me up and down carefully. His cold hazel eyes seemed to stare through my glasses.

I could only feel one thing, fear.

At first I recalled when we were still with the Empire and how James had wanted me dead, then I remembered that he was responsible for his own mother's death, _my mother's death. _I just visioned her friendly smile and how she always tried her hardest to look after us, despite the fact she was bullied by my dad.

Then I could only feel one thing, rage.

Not having a clue what I was doing, I screamed, lunging myself towards James, ready to rip his throat out. They were all taken by suprise that the nerdy little heir from all those years ago was fighting back and James received a punch to the face, compliments of me.

Before I could do anything else, a rather hairy leg grabbed me round the middle and slammed me onto the concrete. Looking up I was being pinned down by a tarantula who's name I didn't know.

The gang members pulled out knifes, bats, crowbars. You name it, they've got it.

"Stop!" James commanded and his men lowered their weapons, "I want to ask my little brother here a few questions."

He knelt down so he was eye level with me. I wanted to kill him, beat him, but his men were flanking me.

"First off, thankyou for destroying the Empire. We were struggling with them being around, but now we have a large window of oppurtunity and you have no protection." Him and his friends grinned to themselves. "Second. We want the Empire's wealth. Now, don't attempt to deny you have it. After the whole event last year after daddy died, we couldn't find his credit card anywhere. So either A) The Police took it for no reason or B) You and your little gang took it."

So that's what he was after, the money. Despite the fact I was very scared, I just couldn't give him the money. The world would be better off with someone like him broke than rich.

"I'm not giving you anything," I mumbled quietly.

"Say that again?" He asked lightly, like he was challenging me.

"You're not getting a dime," I replied, suprising even myself.

James sighed and pulled out a knife. I was as good as dead. No one was around to help me. The alleyway was empty. I looked down the roads, no cars. I looked at the rooftops, nobody there except a shadowy figure with a mask on. I was screwe- Wait what?

I looked up again. The figure dropped down. Taken completely off guard, James and his gang turned their attention to this masked person.

The figure grabbed a bat off the weasel and began beating the gang into submission. James didn't understand what was going on and got smacked round the back of the head. They all began to retreat and I was left alone with my masked hero as it began to pour it down.

"Thankyou," I whispered.

They helped me to my feet and they began to take their mask off.

It wasn't suprising. The second I saw this person was a masked vigilante, I knew who it was. My uncle.

Besides the trench coat with armour and the slightly greying hair, my uncle looked exactly the same.

We stared at each other for a few moments before embracing in a hug.

I was about to ask him if he knew where Rob was, but he spoke first.

"We need to get off the streets and back to my place. It's not safe here."

As he lead me to his place, I felt like this had to be a dream. It wouldn't be a suprise to me if I woke up at any moment, but nothing happened. This was actually real.

We reached the top floor of a shabby looking building. No one would come looking here, maybe me and the gang needed to take some tips of my uncle.

Inside, it was like a detective's office. Pictures of people all over the walls. Statuses of criminals, their personal lifes, background information. Was he still a police officer?

"I'm just gonna go change into normal clothing," he announced, taking off his armoured attire which dropped to the floor with a loud clunk.

I nodded then turned my attention to a wall with my face on it. Actually it was like a collage of all my family:

**Family's Whereabouts**

**Name****D.O.B****Status****Notes**

_**Bentley**__**16/12/1978 Unknown Orphanage was destoyed.**_

_**William 13/04/1939 Deceased News Report and DNA test confirms this.**_

_**James 11/12/1967 Alive Hunting all known family members. **_

_**Robert 15/10/1968 Unknown Birth records have vanished. Unexplainable.**_

_**Michael 31/10/1963 Alive Stowed away on a cargo ship from Paris to **_

_** the USA. The crew were found in 'bits'.**_

I read it over several times. It was amazing how he had kept a decent track on all of us, except Rob...

Nonetheless, this helped me out alot. Even if the Michael part scared the hell out of me.

Suddenly my ear com went off.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Hey pal, it's Sly. What's your status?"

I panicked. My uncle could be back any second. Thinking fast (although it pretty much came naturally these days) I made up an excuse.

"Sly. I'm pinned down. Someone got mugged and police are everywhere," I lied.

"What!" he nearly screamed, "where are you? Murray says he'll come pick you up!"

"No! Don't!" I hissed, "someone might recognise the van. I'm better off hiding out till morning. Trust me."

"Well, okay buddy. Take care."

"You too," I said, letting that self hatred surface again.

I turned off the binnocucom. I'd make it up to Sly for lying to him time and time again. Somehow.

Looking around the room I found another interesting wall.

**Rebirthed Cooper Gang**

**Name****D.O.B****Status****Notes**

_**Sly Connor Cooper**_ _**21/04/1979 Active He's just like Connor!**_

_**Known Turtle Accomplice N/A N/A N/A**_

_**Known Hippo Accomplice N/A N/A N/A**_

I laughed at the notes on Sly's profile and felt glad my uncle hasn't found out i'm in league with his deceased arch rival's son.

There were other papers like notes on corrupt law enforcers and segments on famous vigilantes of the past. Then another thing caught my eye.

**Attack on the Wiseturtle Manor**

_**I found a Cooper Calling Card next to Margerat's body. This however turned out to be a false trail as James is actually responsible. He has about a dozen other close associates. I think they want the Empire. No other information otherwise.**_

"Thought it would interest you."

I spun round to see my uncle fully dressed in normal clothes.

"Did you become a vigilante because what I said all those years ago?" I asked, remembering our hunting trip in the woods.

He nodded. "Yeah. The idea did sink in eventually, especially since I couldn't return to work."

"Awesome," I spoke in barely a whisper.

"Let me ask you a question Bentley. How did you end up here? Last I checked your Orphanage was destroyed."

Natural lying powers activate!

"Well after the orphanage got destoyed, I pretty much had to move out since I was about to turn eighteen. I was an accountant so I used the money I had to rent a flat. Then I saw an image of you on the internet and made my way straight here," I said as casually as possible.

He nodded then I added, "has anyone found out about your vigilante status? I mean there's an image going round the web with you unmasked."

"Oh don't worry about that. I never leave here without my mask on anyway so no one will recognise me. Plus most people online think the picture is a fake and just someone trying to become famous." He grinned.

He started gathering up paperwork.

"What are you looking into right now?" I asked.

"A large drug shipment and a possible assasination attempt. Both of them are going to happen in an hour to two," he explained, "you're welcome to stay here while I do."

I shook my head. Wondering what might happen to him if he was left on his own. He could get himself killed.

"I'm coming with you," I replied quite firmly.

"No you are not. I'm not putting you in danger."

"But, but, I survived the Orphanage fire!"

My uncle still shook his head.

"And the amount of times James has tried to get me," I said, over exaggerating slightly.

"No, you're staying here and that's final," he said in a final sort of way.

There was a slight pause.

"You know i'll just follow you," I said smirking.

My uncle sighed, "very well Bentley. What can you do to help?"

I pulled out a pair of headsets (usually used at back-ups, incase the binocucoms are too obvious in public places).

"I can be your recon man and watch your back," I explained.

"Okay then," my uncle gathered himself, "first things first; the drug shipment. Copious amounts of Cocaine will soon be loaded onto the docks. Our job is to disrupt the deal. Restrain the dealers. Leave them for the police."

I nodded, thinking carefully.

"Any high vantage points I can make use of?" I asked.

"If you can find a crane or something I suppose," my uncle suggested.

"What about the assasination attempt," I asked him.

"The victim will apparently be a politician and the perpetrator will be a sniper. At least that's what I gathered," he explained.

"Anything else?" I said, feeling nervous.

"I'll explain later."

_**One Hour Later...**_

I climbed up the crane's ladder as my uncle disappeared inbetween the crates below me. We were currently in New York Bay waiting for these dealers to appear. Although I had tried to conquer my slight fear of heights, I still didn't dare look down as I lay flat on my stomach at the top of the crane.

A few moments past. The wind picking up and dying down several times. I wondered how I would lead a double life. One would be with Sly and Murray, the other would be with my uncle. How would this work out? I tried to come to some sort of solution, then I saw them...

Two groups of hooded men. Three in each of them and both were heading towards each other. They began talking and I radioed my uncle.

"Okay. The dealers have just met, there talking," I hissed.

Then someone appeared in a small car. They parked right next to a large crate and opened the boot. Whilst one man paid another, the rest loaded the boot with these large boxes.

"Their shifting the drugs uncle," I whispered and in a flash, a smoke grenade filled the area where the dealers were standing.

I squinted and sure enough my uncle appeared, wearing a gas mask and goggles (which I assume were infared to see through the smoke).

He systematically beat them a few times, legged them over and restrained them. I laughed to myself as the show went on... then I spotted a strange figure leaving the docks directly beneath me. My uncle was too busy fighting for me to mention this.

I shifted position and watched him walk away from the fight. He stepped under a street lamp and I almost felt like I had fallen off the crane; It was Michael!

The behemoth of a turtle staggered slightly under the lamp post and I got a good look at his body.

His old asylum outfit was darkened and ripped in places, with notable blood stains, left, right and centre. He had a butcher's knife in one hand. And without warning he spun round, and seemed to be staring in my direction.

I didn't turn away in fear, instead I just stared at the combination of dirt and blood which covered my oldest brother's face. His peircing black eyes seemed to be staring right at me. I didn't know what to do, how could I deal with him? He couldn't talk. Had no concept of the real world and was absolutely psychopathic. He wasn't _normal._

"Bentley come in. Do you read me?" I sighed. It was my uncle.

"I read you," I replied, not taking my eyes off Michael.

"I've restrained the criminals and left their drug's shipment next to them," he added.

I spun round to find a smale pile of thugs squirming next to a couple of crates.

"Nice one," I smiled.

"I've phoned the police. We need to get our of here," he said quickly and I immediately got up and slid down the ladder.

I looked back at where I had seen Michael. No sign of him.

My uncle ran over to me.

"Let's take the east exit. Sirens can be seen coming from the west," said my uncle as we made our getaway...

We both sat on a park bench as my uncle explained the second mission on the night. I felt proud to have proper family again. Like I wasn't completely alone.

"You see the italian restuarant across the road from us?" my uncle asked casually, not even bothering to look up.

"Yeah," I whispered, checking it out carefully.

"The politician is currently inside there eating. Now apparently, once he leaves, the sniper will take him out. I'm going to scale over the rooftops and find this son of a bitch. You cause a distraction if he's leaving the restuarant."

"Why is he being targeted?" I asked him.

"The man suggested a new law that would allow law enforcers to search people's homes without the use of a warrant," my uncle explained. He casually pointed at a penguin in one of the booth windows and I realised this was the politician.

"Isn't that kind of an invasion of privacy?" I said, gently.

"If you have nothing to hide then no. Plus that way criminals don't get a chance to hide their 'posessions'. Naturally, some crime lord has hired someone to take care of him," my Uncle sighed, "i'll get into position."

I nodded.

As I waited patiently and recieved feedback from my uncle every few minutes, one thing irratated me slightly. This was extremely counter productive for the gang and I.

If this law was to be passed, then it could hinder many of our future operations. Then I remembered this man's life is on the line. These criminals were going to far. That's what singled me, Sly and Murray out from other criminals. We didn't resort to murder, rape and drug dealing etc.

"Bentley. I still can't find the sniper."

I groaned.

"What's the Politician's status?" my uncle added.

"Paying at the counter!" I hissed frantically, watching the penguin from afar.

"Right Bentley. I know you're panicking but do anything to keep him from safe," my uncle said quickly.

I froze up. What could do to help? He was about to walk out the door! Maybe I should just let fate play out its cards.

"Daddy, can we go home now?" said a little boy to the politician and I realised that was his son.

"Sure champ," he replied, ruffling his hair.

A woman who had to be his wife, tagged along side, smiling at them.

_They were a happy family._

_No one deserves to lose their family._

I leapt off the bench and ran straight towards them, causing them to panic.

"Get behind cover now!" I hissed.

"What? Who are you? What are you doing?" the penguin asked, a slight posh ring to his voice. His son and wife looked nervous.

"Sir, there's a sniper directly behind me on the rooftop. You need to stay out of sight and behind me," I said, breathing rapidly.

He knelt behind my figure and I just hoped my Uncle wasn't far off from getting the marksman.

"Why? Why am I being targeted?" the penguin stuttered, shaking frantically.

"It's the new law you intend to pass. I don't think Crime Lords took too kindly to it, but listen you can't be intimidated by them. You need to pass this law under tight security," I said.

"Yes! But what do I do if he starts shooting?" the penguin hissed through gritted teeth. He was loosing his nerve.

"If he tries to shoot through me to get to you. Then run," I said, trying to sound much much braver than what I felt.

The politician stared at me for a few seconds curiously, then nodded firmly.

"Bentley? Do you copy?" came my Uncle's voice over the headset.

The politician could vaguely make it out, "are you in radio contact? Are you with the C.I.A or something?" he asked me.

I turned to reply, "uhh... yeah. And I read you Uncle."

"I've knocked the sniper out and restrained him, we're leaving," he said.

"Sir, the sniper's been taken care of," I said, addressing the relieved family with a smile.

And with that I needed to leave. The police could be here any second. I bolted down the streets, listening to the politician shout "wait!" behind me.

It was about half one in the morning when we got back to the apartment. I collapsed onto the couch, exhausted but exhilarated.

"I'll go get you a glass of water," said my uncle.

I nodded and grabbed the remote. On TV (to my shock) was the politician.

_"Sir do you have any comment about the man who 'saved your life' as you put it? What did he look like?" _asked a female news reporter, shoving the microphone in his face.

_"No! I can't remember a thing what he looked like," _the penguin stuttered, _"he might have been a coyote."_

_"Other key witnesses claim he was a turtle," _the woman gave him a hollow stare.

_"No. He most certianly was not."_

I smiled to myself. Maybe he was trying to return the favour.

My uncle returned with a glass.

"Cheers," I mumbled.

I downed the drink in one.

"So... What do you want to do next?" I asked eagerly.

"Well, I was thinking of hunting down the Cooper Gang."

It was a good thing he was watching the News Report, otherwise he would of seen my eyes pop out of my skull.

"And i'm trying to track down James and his associates," he added as an afterthought.

"You wrote, he's hunting all known family members," I said, looking at the wall behind me. "Why?"

"He wants the Empire. He thinks he deserves the wealth and power," said my uncle, "and he feels we're all standing in the way of him. Especially you since you replaced him as the heir."

_And also because I have the empire's fortune, I thought to myself._

"When did I replace James as the heir to the Empire?" I asked.

"Basically, the second you learnt to walk and talk. You were a genius. But before you were born, James was pampered, much like you were. Then when he was about fourteen/fifteen, your dad gave up on him. Neglected him and began bullying him, that's probably what made him what he is today."

For a second, I felt happy my father was dead, but decided not to dwell on it. It wasn't normal.

"Did Michael and Rob get pampered too?" I asked.

"Michael was, up until the whole 'murder' thing, so your dad kinda left him at the asylum to rot," my uncle continued, "and Rob..." he shook his head, "the second Rob told your dad he wanted nothing to do with a shady governemnt group your Dad never spoke to him kindly again. He usually refered to him as 'the mistake' or 'the accident'."

"Can we please get back to the point!" I said, a little too loud, "why does James want to kill me so bad?"

This time there was a slight pause and I noticed my uncle looked quite nervous.

"I- I don't know," he replied almost mechanically.

"Right," I said getting comfortable on the couch," i'm going bed, night uncle."

"Night Bentley," and with that he was gone.

I wondered for a second what he was hiding to me, but then the exhaustion hit me, and I fell flat out asleep.

The next morning I awoke to find a note next to me:

_Bentley,_

_I've gone to go keep an eye on the politician. Feel free to come back anytime (i've left you the spare key)_

_Love,_

_Uncle Seymour_

Feeling much better about being able to return to him I left without a second's hesitation.

At the hotel, Sly and Murray were at breakfast.

"Hey guys, sorry I didn't come home last night," I mumbled, sitting next to them, thanking god we were on our own.

There was a slight pause before Sly spoke.

"So, you gonna tell us what happened last night?"

"I already told you. Someone got mugged near me and I had to hide out. Just be quiet a waiters approaching."

"Good morning, what will you three gentlemen be having," the lynx asked us with his friendly smile.

"Not hungry," I mumbled.

He gave me a funny stare then turned to Sly.

"Good morning to you too. The full english will do me," Sly replied smiling.

"Thankyou," he said, jotting down notes, "and you sir?"

Murray seemed to be scanning the Breakfast Menu thoroughly.

"Yes. Erm, i'll have the plate of bacon butties. The poached egg. The scrambled egg with the optional side toast. An egg in an eggcup with soldiers ofcourse. Two of the full english, one with extra brown sauce. And to go on the side, a bowl of Coco Pops," he said, noticing our jaws drop, "Oh sorry. Where are my manners? Please."

"Erm, yes. Certianly sir," the waiter seemed to be running out of paper, "anything else?" he added nervously.

"No don't," Sly whined, "we'll be here till tea time."

After a few minutes and the entire staff had to deliver Murray's breakfast, we got back to talking.

"You going to try searching for the vigilante again tonight?" Sly asked taking a sip of the complimentary orange juice.

"Ofcourse, but first i'm going to have another crack at finding the Fiendish Five," I said, grabbing a slice of Murray's toast rack.

"Cool. Just so you know, I won't be able to search for the Vigilante tonight," said Sly.

"Oh. And why's that?" I asked.

"There's this big event going on at a museum. Sound's like fun," he grinned.

"Please don't get yourself caught," I moaned.

"Did you really just say that." He looked insulted.

"Just stay safe," I whispered.

"Hey Bentley. Can I have the night off tonight?" Murray asked, sounding nervous.

"Yeah... ofcourse you can. You don't need to ask," I said confused.

"Oh. Thank God!"

I laughed, "we're a family of thieves you know. Not a business."

Sly nodded.

"Awesome! I've been meaning to work on the van!"

"Anything else?" I asked the two of them.

"Yeah," Sly replied, leaning closer to me, "act more sociable. You draw way too much attention to us."

"Noted."

After another useless attempt to track down the Fiendish Five, I decided to head to my Uncles.

Inside the apartment he was already geared up.

"Hey Bentley," he said, placing his mask on.

"What are you doing tonight?" I said, letting that nervous/excited sensation kicked in.

"Try not to panic. I've found out that James and his little motley crew have rented a CEO office in the heart of the city and are having a 'top secret meeting'."

He most certianly saw my jaw drop.

"U-Uncle, i'm sorry but I am not letting you go there! He could kill you!" I said shaking.

"Bentley. He's sat in a CEO building, filled with hundreds of workers. Do you really think he's going to try anything?" he asked.

"A place full of people? Sounds familiar. Oh yeah. Just like the party at the Wiseturtle Manor all those years ago," I retorted, regretting it immediately.

I expected my uncle to go crazy. He didn't. Instead he looked guilty.

"Look, Bentley. I know you're scared to lose me, but i'll be going disguised as a janitor. Even if he did spot me, this isn't like the fire. Your family's mansion was distant from the buildings around it. James and his friends had plenty of time to attack and escape. They definitely won't this time."

He was firm about it. There was only one thing left to do.

"I'm coming with you," I said...

"Thankyou for coming in on such short notice guys," our 'boss' said to me and uncle and we stood there in our janitor attire.

"No problem sir. Happy to help," I replied. My uncle nodded.

"Okay, you have the first floor toilets to do. Wesley's office on the second floor is a tip, (had a bit of a breakdown, his wife phoned up saying she burnt his 'batman comics')" our boss said, keeping a straight face. A feat I failed at epicly.

"Good night gents," he added, leaving the building.

My uncle turned to me, "to the second floor."

"We're not actually cleaning Wesley's office are we?" I frowned.

"No. James is on that floor."

We made our way upstairs, expecting James to jump out of nowhere and attack me. On the second floor, I shivered to the sound of his voice echoing from the room at the end of the hall. I began to sweep near the door. My uncle was keeping a lookout at the other end of the hall.

"Bentley is our main concern," I heard James' voice say, "he stole the Empire's wealth for himself. We need to take care of him first."

"The uncle is also a problem. If it weren't for him, your little brother would be dead and gone and we could have our wealth and power," said a slightly french accent. I think it was the weasel.

The others murmered in agreement.

"He's just another mere obstacle for us," James replied casually.

"And what about the oldest of the your brothers? The insane one," I heard a new voice say.

I dared to take a peek through the window on the door and was suprised to see fear on James' face. They were all sat round a table much like the 'Empire' were when I first met them. James ofcourse was sat at the end of the table.

"Michael," he stammered slightly, "w-well, I did hire a hitman to take care of him, but when I went to our rendevous to pay him. He was there gutted and ripped open."

I shuddered again. Michael? James? Michael? James? I wasn't quite sure which one I was more afraid of.

The members exchanged nervous glances and James cleared his throat, picking up a small glass of red wine and taking a sip.

"Regardless, he's a mental psychopath. It's not like he has any plans to take us down. He's simply a loose cannon. I still deserve the Empire. I was the true heir. Not _him_," James said quietly.

I was still standing in plain sight, but my mind was elsewhere. I finally understood why James hated me. If only he had known before the fire, I would of gladly gave up my position as the family's heir to him, that is if he wasn't a complete psychopath. I came back to reality to find James and his friends staring at me!

None of them had made any attempts to get out of their seats. James smirked and simply picked up his wine glass and made a gesture like he was toasting to me and I ran as fast I could.

My Uncle was suprised to see me jogging down the hall like a nutter.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"They saw me."

"Right. We better get out of here," he mumbled.

Back at the apartment I relayed everything I overheard.

"He must of been planning to murder us all way before he murdered your mother," said my uncle after I had finished.

I didn't know what to say. I would be glad if a giant wormhole appeared under my feet and took me elsewhere. No, I needed to stop wishing this all away and get all the facts together.

"Did you ever get any feelings the fire was going to happen?" I asked lightly.

My uncle looked shocked, "I would of got you all to safety if I had," he replied quickly. After a short pause, "although... I did have the feeling your dad did."

"Like what?" I asked, feeling nervous.

"Well," he sighed, "he was always shifting large amounts of wealth or items of value out of the mansion as discreetly as possible, plus he had been insisting for weeks for me to take you hunting the night the party was happening. I know you don't want to hear me say this Bentley but I think your dad knew James was going to try and kill your family and saw it as a good thing."

"What? No way!" then I thought about the conversation I had had with my dear old 'daddy' right before I left the empire. He didn't seem too bothered about my mum's death.

"There was a reason the Police never looked into the fire. I insisted it was an arson attack, but alot of people believed a random drunk accidentally caused it. The party was the perfect cover up," said my uncle, not meeting my eye.

"So what? He intended to let all his family die except me?" I asked feeling sick.

My uncle noticed I looked quite faint. "Sorry Bentley, I didn't mean to say all those things, your father wasn't evil."

"Ofcourse not," I mumbled realising his guesswork was probably accurate, "listen i'm gonna get back to my apartment. I'll be back soon I promise."

He nodded.

Now in New York, you're supposed to be on guard whilst walking through the streets at night alone, but I was too busy thinking.

_I still need to find Rob. I can't believe my dad knew about the fire. I shuddered at the thought of him planning our family's demise whilst he spoke to me about meeting his Empire..._

At the hotel the manager greeted me as per usual.

"Another late night Mr. Stroker?" he asked.

"Yep," I mumbled, "night."

Sly and Murray never ceased to suprise with how idiotic and immature they were, but tonight they had reached a new level.

Murray was pinning a drunk Sly to the sofa. The latter kept muttering someone's name and Murray would slap him.

"Stop saying that name, it's annoying!" said Murray, he looked up, "hey Bentley."

"Good morning kindergarten," I replied, "what are you two doing?"

"Sly's met a girl and he won't shut up about her!"

"And you actually like her emotionally, not physically?" I asked the raccoon very suprised.

"Oh Bentley!" Sly replied in an overdramtic voice, "my heart sings out to the lovely Miss. Fox!"

"Good for you mate," I said honestly. If Sly had met a girl then he might not want to leave New York just yet. Perfect. "How did you meet?" I asked.

"The second she started shooting at me and waving her Interpol badge I knew she was the one!"

I gasped in horror. Trust Sly to fall in love with a law enforcer.

"You sure know how to pick 'em," Murray laughed letting Sly go.

"This is becoming a joke," I said, shaking my head, "how are we going to amount to anything with you putting us at risk every five seconds Sly!"

"We'll be fine," replied Sly unfazed, "besides what's the fun in stealing if their's no one chasing you?"

On that retarded note I went to bed. Sometimes I wonder which life would be better for me, the one with Sly and Murray or the one with my Uncle...

The next day (or more appropiately, the next night) I was heading to my uncles. What I thought would be tricky had become a nightly routine for me. Sly or Murray never questioned me once.

On Saint Nicholas Avenue I was stopped in my tracks by a rooster. But not just any rooster, I knew this was the same rooster that used to work for my father, but what was he doing here?

"Long time no see kid," he said with a strangely strangled voice.

"You're the same rooster that used to work for my dad, aren't you?" I asked, biting my lip.

He didn't respond to this. He simply handed me a phone and ran off.

For a second I expected it to explode and contemplated throwing it, but then it began to ring.

"Hello?" I asked curiously.

"Hello to you too."

I froze up. It was James.

"What do you want?" I asked, checking over my shoulder.

"What's rightfully mine. The Empire," he replied shortly.

"It doesn't exist anymore and listen to me James," I added knowing I would have no chance of doing this in person, "you can stop all this madness. You don't need to kill our family."

"How about I trade you something in exchange for all the money you stole off 'daddy'?" he asked. He wasn't listening to me.

Despite the fact this could be dangerous, I laughed.

"And what would you offer in exchange exactly?" I asked.

"Hmm, how about... Rob?"

I stopped laughing.

"What?" I sounded completely vulnerable and he knew it.

"Rob. His safety in exchange for the money," he replied as simple as that.

"Y-You're lying," I stammered, "you don't know where he is," then I thought the worst, "and you don't have him hostage."

"Disprove I don't. It wouldn't matter if I did kill him, his birth records have 'mysteriously vanished'," he laughed softly, "I wonder who did that?"

I reached into my shell and felt the credit card which held billions of euros.

"Where do you want me to meet?" I asked.

"A deserted Warehouse just off Adam's Street. It's not far from Brooklyn Bridge," he hung up.

I imagined alot of people would be scared in my situation, but the idea of seeing Rob again seemed to be outweighing the fear massively. It's a strange world we live in.

The large shabby warehouse stood out a mile away as I approached Adam's Street. No one was around and I couldn't bear chickening out and possibly getting Rob killed. I made my way inside through a dusty broken fire exit.

The interior was not what I expected. Instead of it being empty and open like I guessed, moulding crates were stacked up like mini towers left right and centre. Suprisingly some lights were still working, unless this was by James' design. This was the perfect place for an ambush.

I stepped quietly and cautiously. If I could get Rob out without making a deal then great, if I get caught i'll still pay him off, or threaten to destroy the credit card if he doesn't let Rob go.

Before I could think into this any further I was tackled into a corner. Expecting this to be James, I began to kick feebly only to find it was my uncle.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I should be asking that!" he hissed back.

"James has Rob. I need to make a deal with him."

My uncle looked at me like I had gone insane.

"Bentley, if James had Rob hostage I would know. I've been keeping tabs on him ever since he entered New York. Why do you think I knew where he was when he attacked you in that alley? Conincidence? Or what about when I knew he was having that CEO meeting?"

"Alright," I hissed, "I understand." That sinking feeling followed shortly. Even under the circumstances, I was still desperate for any sign or clue of Rob being alive.

"We need to get out of here," said my uncle.

"You two aren't going anywhere," we heard James' voice say and all the lights turned on, revealing James and his men surrounding us.

"Bentley, run," my uncle whispered through the corner of his mouth. James heard him completely.

"Neither of you need to run. Just give me the money or credit card and we'll let you go."

"Says the man who murdered his own mother," replied my Uncle. I felt like begging him not to mock the psycho.

James shrugged. "Suit yourselves. Damien give me my gun."

There was a slight pause.

"DAMIEN!" James roared. Him and his gang all turned to look at the same spot only to find a bunch of twitching dismembered tarantula legs and alot of blood.

"What the fuck happened to him?" The rooster from before asked, backing away from the mess.

As if this couldn't get anymore terrifying, Michael appeared, bloody knife in hand. He casually walked towards the terrified gang.

"James what do we do?" a gorilla asked, who I remembered from somewhere. They were all scrambling up the crates to get away from Michael. The latter stared at me and my Uncle who were still on ground level like him. My uncle got into a fighting stance, though I doubt he could do much to the seven foot behemoth infront of him. My instincts told me to run, but my body couldn't move an inch.

Instead of attacking us Michael punched the crate next him with his knife free hand and the structure collapsed making the crates above come crashing down along with some of James' gang.

"Retreat!" James shouted as Michael began grabbing the helpless men and slitting their throats.

My body woke up, "Run!" I shouted grabbing my uncle by his hand. He wouldn't budge.

"No!" he shouted, "we need to help them. We need to stop him."

"He's a mentally deranged psychopath and those men want your head on a platter," I screamed.

He took one last look at the chaos before him and to my eternal relief fled with me.

Outside people were allover the place watching us flee.

"What's going on?" A bear shouted watching us run for our lives.

"Bentley. Get back to your apartment and barricade the door," said my uncle coming to a halt.

"What are you doing!" I yelled.

"Heading back to my place," he said pulling out a small white ball. He threw it on the ground and smoke surrounded us.

"Run!" I heard him shout.

_Several minutes later..._

"Bentley. Why are you panting?" Sly asked as I slammed the door behind me.

"Just... felt.. like... running," I said, trying to catch my breath.

Sly did not look convinced one bit, but then Murray walked in from the bathroom.

"Bentley! You're back early. You'll never guessed what Sly did!" he laughed.

Sly stopped staring me up and down and gave off a sheepish grin.

"What did you do?" I asked, wondering how much more tension I could take.

They both nodded to the TV. On screen there was a New York Police Station, but it didn't look normal, infact it seemed to be covered in blue. I turned it up to hear the News Reporter.

_"It seems the Cooper Gang have gone from major heists to practical jokes as this Police Station has been covered in infamous Cooper Calling Cards, each one has a small love poem written on it, all of them are directed at Miss. Carmelita Montoya Fox, who is not commenting on this strange erm, 'love crime'."_

Behind me Murray burst out laughing. The News Reporter was handed a calling card as the Police were trying to take them all down. He began to read it.

_"Roses are red._

_Your hair is blue._

_Oh, Miss Fox._

_I do love you."_

Murray just laughed harder.

I just went to bed. Tomorrow I would see my uncle. I felt better when I was with him than with those idiots. I was always much closer to unraveling the mystery to my family. I was seriously starting to doubt whether or not we would be able to defeat the Fiendish Five (or even find them for that matter). We weren't going to amount to anything but random heists by the looks of things. I was starting to feel more open to staying with my uncle. A thought which tempted me, but I knew I would feel immensly guilty if I left Sly and Murray...

The next day I woke up quite early and went straight to my Uncle's place.

"Oh Bentley! Thank god you're still alive," he exclaimed as I entered his apartment.

"Same to you. Got any leads on James?" I asked, feeling eager to stay the night again.

"No. I can't find him whatsoever," he replied grimly.

"Oh okay," I said, "can I still stay?"

"Did you really just ask that?" he laughed.

I grinned back, "who are we going after then?"

"Sly Cooper," he replied and I fought the urge not to have a heart attack.

"Any leads?" I asked in a strained voice.

"No, but last night he pranked a local police station so he has to be in the area," he said, laughing to himself, "ahh, just like Connor."

Why was I always thrown into impossible dilemmas? I couldn't betray Sly, but I couldn't tell my uncle I was a wanted criminal. I could just go along with it. I doubt he'd be able to catch Sly. Despite the latter not being stronger than my uncle, he was definitely more nimble, plus he had his cane.

"How are we going to find him?" I asked casually.

"Well the brains of his little gang seems to be keeping the cocky raccoon in line, he's made it hard to find them," he said and I blushed slightly, "so we'll just have to search for him on rooftops."

"Fine," I replied.

"Also I want you to have this," my uncle said handing me a crossbow.

"Hey isn't this the same one I used all those years ago in the woods when we were hunting deer?" I asked.

"Yeah, except I modified it so it now holds sleep darts in favour of lethal ones," he said smiling, "ever since the incident last night, you need the protection, it's also foldable so you can hide it in your shell."

As we scampered from the rooftop to rooftop. My mind (once again) was in a different world. How long would my Uncle be hunting Sly for? What if they had a run in and I was there? Sly would want to know why i'm in league with another turtle. Chances are both would find the truth out from the other...

"Bingo," my uncle whispered. We had stopped next to a billboard. I wondered why and looked at the building next to us. My head throbbed in panic, Sly was there, luckily he hadn't noticed us. He was too busy catcalling someone to notice anything else.

"Hey, Miss. Fox, how about you quit trying to catch me and we can go on a date?" I heard him shout. He was staring down at the streets below where I presumed Miss Fox was.

A very very anrgy woman's voice responded though I couldn't make out what she was saying.

"This is perfect, i'm going to go take him," my uncle said getting up.

I was at a loss for words. He climbed up onto Sly's level and to my horror the raccoon was dragged from the edge of the rooftop and my uncle began beating him.

Inside my mind was having an internal battle. It was like two voices were speaking to me.

_'Save Sly, he treats you like a brother!'_

_'Yes. But real family like your Uncle come's first. Plus Sly's way too immature he's going to get you arrested!'_

_'Deep down, despite all the jokes and immaturity Sly loves you and would never let what's happening to him now, happen to you!'_

_"Yeah right, what has he ever done for you?"_

Then I remembered back when we were sixteen, a very defining moment for my friendship with Sly...

We were both in school, next to our lockers talking, when the popular group (or incrowd) came over.

"Hey Sly," said one of the girls of the group, though I couldn't remember her name, all I knew was Sly wanted to sleep with her.

Most guys would probably stutter out a full sentence in one word when in her presence, but not Sly.

"What's up gorgeous?" he said with a grin. The lad's of their group gave him an approving nod.

"Not much. You up for coming my party saturday night?" she asked, twirling her hair with her hands.

"Love too," he replied casually.

None of them seemed to notice I was there, then the bell rang.

"Come on Sly," I spoke up, " we need to get to science class."

Sly nodded, but the incrowd started laughing, all pointing at me.

"Haha," said the girl Sly was talking to, "did you hear his voice!"

They all laughed harder and I stared down at the floor.

"Sly, sweetie, why do you hang out with this little freak?" she asked, "honestly, you're fit, but you need to sort out your social life. It's either _him _or us."

I didn't want to make Sly choose so I began to walk away. Both him and Murray deserved more popular friends than me. To my suprise the raccoon caught up.

"Come on Bentley," he said, "we have science and I need my sleep."

I looked back at the incrowd who looked like they had been slapped.

"That's fine," the girl shouted at us picking herself back up, "enjoy your social life!"

"Will do," Sly shouted back, "you enjoy your chlamydia."

We made it round the corner.

"They're right Sly I am a loser, you deserve people of your social status, not someone like me," I said.

"Don't let them get you down buddy," he said firmly, "if I had to choose between the whole school and you, guess what, It would be you."

"Really?" I said, "why?"

He turned to me with a smile, "because you're my friend." ...

I snapped back to reality as I felt a tear roll down my cheek. My Uncle had Sly pinned down, the latter was almost unconscious.

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and without hesitation fired a sleep dart directing at my uncle.

My uncle collapsed and I hid out of sight behind the billboard, hardly comprehending what I had just done. Looking through a small hole in my hiding spot. I saw Sly get up, he was a bloody mess, but he didn't stay for a second longer and dived off the rooftop.

I ran over to my uncle who was just waking up. He pulled the dart out of his elbow as I approached. He looked at me.

"Why on earth did you shoot me?" he asked.

There were no lies. Not anymore.

"I'm sorry uncle," I said, bursting into tears, "I couldn't betray Sly. I just couldn't! He's my friend, my brother even."

My uncle's face looked beyond confused but this quickly turned to fear. He was no longer staring at me, but behind me.

"Bentley run!" he shouted, "and don't come back!"

I turned round to see James and his gang dashing over rooftops towards us. I looked back at my uncle who picked me up off the floor.

"I apologise in advance," was what he said as he pushed me off the rooftop.

I fell possibly two floors and landed on my shell. Contrary to popular opinion us turtles can get back up even if we're on our backs. Unfortunately I landed in the middle of the streets infront of everyone.

"Oh my god!" a woman cried, "a suicide jumper!"

A man knelt down next to me, "please sir! Don't give up on Christ!"

"I'm not suicidal, I just fell," I groaned.

I needed to get out of here. As I sat up I could see police officers approaching. I casually left the crowd and climbed into a cab.

"What just happened?" the cab driver stared at me.

"Look just take me to the Blue Skies Hotel," I pulled out One Hundred Dollars from my wallet, "no questions. Don't stop."

He grabbed the money, "yes sir."...

"Thankyou!" I shouted as I slammed the cab door and bolted through the Hotel entrance.

Murray was exiting the lobby.

"Woah Bentley! What are you doing?" he asked.

"Where's Sly?" I asked.

"He just contacted me by binocucom. He said he's at the hospital since he just got attacked," Murray replied.

"Has he not been arrested?"

"No, he told me that the nurse can't tell it's the infamous Sly Cooper behind all the blood and bruises," said Murray as he started heading out the door.

I reluctantly followed him out of the door and we got in the van together. Murray drove like a madman for several moments and we arrived at hospital Sly claimed to be at.

"What do we do!" I panicked, thinking of my uncle's wellbeing and Sly's predicament.

"There's disguises in the back," said Murray.

Inside we tracked down where Sly was, a nurse was tending to his wounds. She spun round to me and Murray.

"Can I help you two?" she asked.

"It's okay, they're my friends," Sly winced.

She nodded, "okay all the major wounds have been patched up. You should look like your usual self within a few days. I'm just going to go fill in some paperwork, stay here."

Sly nodded then turned on the TV in the corner of the room.

"What are you doing?" Murray asked.

"Checking to see if the police know what's happened," Sly replied.

He changed to the new's channel and I watched a blue haired fox wearing a police uniform take two of James' gang into custody.

"Officer, you've really made an impact for interpol since your recruitment here," said a husky shaking her hand.

"Thankyou Sergeant," she spoke in a hispanic accent.

"I'm happy to make this public!" he said, looking at the camera, "you have been promoted to Inspector! Your job is now on an international scale. What a lovely early eighteenth birthday present this is!"

Before I could see her reaction, I felt a vibration in my pocket and realised it was the phone that rooster had given me.

"Uhh guys. I'm just going to go bathroom," I mumbled before rushing out of the room.

I entered the toilets and locked myself in a cubicle, then answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Listen Bentley. I forgive you for saving Sly Cooper. I'm sorry for leaving you at that Orphanage all those years ago. I love you."

It was my uncle, why did he sound like he was saying his final words...

"Where are you?" I asked tearing up slightly.

"Please Bentley, don't try to find me. I've made a deal with James. We'll see each other again someday I promise," in the background I heard the unmistakeable laugh of James. He hung up.

More confused than ever I put the phone in my pocket and went back to Sly and Murray...

The next day, I went straight over to my uncles. Inside there was no sign of him. I ransacked the room and discovered a tape. Curiosity got the best of me and I put it into the VCR. To my suprise it was a recording of the room I was sat in a couple of days ago. I looked above the front door and saw a camera there.

I turned my attention back to the TV. At first there seemed to be nothing happening, but then I noticed the door opening slowly. It couldn't be my uncle, why would he be cautious? I was right, it wasn't him, it was Michael!

I watched as the giant passed underneath the camera and began rooting through drawers much like I had just done. The date on the screen meant this happened a few days ago but my uncle never mentioned anything about it. I watched as the turtle scanned through information on our family before pocketing a family photo and leaving his peircing black eyes (which he inherited from our father) watching the camera. The tape ended.

I ransacked even more, finding no tapes. One thing did suprise me though.

A file with the name _**Fiendish Five **_on it.

I opened it and read my uncle's writing.

_Although none of them operate anywhere near New York, the Fiendish Five are responsible for the death of my former rival Connor Cooper. Now, I don't have a clue where the Five are, but if my memories correct then there is a file on them at the Police Station in Paris, granted things haven't changed much since I worked there._

I stopped reading. The last few days had been a blur but I gathered myself,

I would see my Uncle again and since Sly's eighteenth was tomorrow I had the perfect birthday present for him.

We were going after the Fiendish Five.

**Finally! I've written this thing. Again, really sorry for taking so long, i've just spent the last five hours in the dead night forcing myself to complete it. Now before you leave I have just one question...**

**How do you want me to write up Sly 1?**

**I do have a full draft ready and waiting, but since Bentley isn't really the central character, my take on it is really just "the adventure of Bentley and Murray" whilst their sat in the back of the van and Sly's on missions. Some parts are key since again it involves family, but as always I like taking your opinions into account?**

**Should be a short chapter or long?**

**Thankyou for the reading this very very very very short chapter.**

**Take care.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 10**

_Not gonna lie, the this may be a little boring to read seeing as though not much goes on during this part of the series._

_Other than a few plot lines and dry humour, it's pretty much a summarised version of the game._

_Also, i'm putting in the date and location so I summarise this alot smoother._

_Enjoy ;)_

**The Thievius Raccoonus**

_**April 22nd 1997**_

_**Paris**_

_**4:10 am**_

The streets of Paris were dead at this time. Just to think 10 years ago me and Murray were laughing at the idea of hunting down the Fiendish Five, now we were only seconds from beginning our journey.

"Just remember Sly grab the files and get outta there. I heard a rumour on Interpol's security forums that Inspector Fox is close on our tail," I warned him.

"Wouldn't be the same without her," Sly grinned.

Murray stopped the van. The Police H/Q was just a few blocks away.

"You getting out here Sly?" the hippo asked, drumming his fingers along the steering wheel.

"Yeah. Just be ready at the getaway rendevous," he replied.

The raccoon silently exited the van and began climbing up a pipe on the building just outside.

This was official. The hunt for the Fiendish Five had begun.

_**April 24th 1997**_

_**Wales**_

_**6:37 pm**_

We decided to target Sir Raliegh first. I wasn't sure if this was a covert insult to me but Sly said we should target the brains first since stereotypes dictates that nerdy people are weak.

I had expected the Fiendish Five hunt to be very dramatic, however it turns out i'm going to be sat in the van with Murray for the rest of our journey. The rain outside didn't look like it was going to stop. I decided to see how Sly was doing.

"Sly, what's your status?"

"Bentley this is so fun! I keep finding green bottles and keys!" he replied gleefully.

WTF?

"Sly stay focused. Ditch the bottles! Why are you so interested?"

"I can't explain it Bentley. It's just i'm wandering around and I hear them rocking back and forth and just have to smash them. Plus there's a clue inside each one."

"Clues? What do they say?" I asked.

"It's a load of mathematical mumbo jumbo," Sly replied.

"Then take a picture of it and send it to me."

In seconds I had the page on my laptop.

"Yeah, looks like a small part of a formula, probably for a safe. Try collecting as many bottles as you can," I said.

Then he started singing.

_"Many green bottles sitting on a wall,_

_Many green bottles sitting on a wall,_

_And if one Sly Cooper should go and smash them all_

_Then there'll be no more green bottles sitting on a wall."_

The last line he spoke in an upset voice.

"Again?" he asked.

"No," I replied firmly, pinching the bridge of my nose.

Unfortunately he didn't listen and him and Murray began their own 'bottle duet'. _Hooray..._

_**April 24th 1997**_

_**Wales**_

_**22:15 pm**_

"Sir Raliegh's section of the Thievius Raccoonus has some detailed notes on my ancestor Rioichi Cooper's 'Ninja Spire Jump," Sly babbled excitedly like a child.

Unbeknowst to him Interpol were on the way.

"That's great Sly, but we need to get outta here cops are on the way. We'll study the Thievius Raccoonus once we're safe," I replied.

Murray started warming the engine up.

"Understood," said Sly, "also can we have a break in London?" he blurted out randomly.

We started heading down the path, now that Raliegh's storm machine was out of commision the rain had started clearing up.

"If you want. I suppose it would give me time to study up on the next Fiendish Five member, Raleigh mentioned Muggshot was in Mesa City," I pondered.

_**April 29th 1997**_

_**London**_

_**2:51 am**_

I wasn't sure how fast Murray was speeding but I made a mental note to fit a seat in the back of the van.

"This was supposed to be a vacation Sly!" I yelled as we made another sharp turn. It wouldn't be long before a rapid response unit began chasing us.

Sly ignored me, examing a big sack of jewels he had "found" in a museum.

"Sly's face is allover the news," said Murray, "what do we do?"

"I-I'll think of something," I stuttered, "just give me time!"

_**April 29th 1997**_

_**Paris**_

_**17:06 pm**_

"This is hardly world class," Sly grumbled as we stopped next to an old train caboose.

"This'll be our hideout for now. Away from civilisation would be perfect," I reasoned.

Inside the caboose I set up a desk and began planning out our next attack on the Fiendish Five. I went back to the van to collect my laptop. Inside Sly had put on a diguise.

"Oh no, no, no. Sly you are not getting us in trouble again."

"Relax will you? I'm getting us some din-dins," he replied.

"And don't forget we're having a chinese," I heard Murray shout from outside.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because rock beats scissors," Sly replied glumly.

_**April 30th 1997**_

_**Paris**_

_**2:15 am**_

Sly and Murray were both asleep as I studied the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. One thing stood out to me.

A shadowy like figue seen in most of the pictures. _Definitely an avian like creature _I thought to myself, _possibly a vulture or an eagle. _Then a much stranger question hit me. How on earth did they take pictures back in the egyptian times?

I decided to call it a night. In a few days we would be heading out to Mesa City.

_**May 1st 1997**_

_**Mesa City**_

_**13:07 pm**_

"Bentley?"

I ignored him.

"Please."

"No," I snapped, "we need to be on guard."

"But, i'm hungry!" Murray whined.

"What if Sly got killed and we were busy eating?"

"Then we'd eat to his memory!"

I shook my head.

"Just a few minutes," the hippo reasoned, "that's all i'm asking."

**...**

I screamed for dear life as Murray swerved around another corner. One minute he was telling himself he would get a snack, the next he was being challenged by these racers. Conviently one of them wagered a key if we lost. What is it with the Fiendish Five and their obsession with keys and bottles?

Coming out of my trance, Murray had stopped the van.

"We won!" Murray cheered.

He jumped out to go get the key, falling over in the process, but nonetheless happy.

_**May 1st 1997**_

_**Mesa City**_

_**21:57 pm**_

We made our way down the highway, watching as the citizens of Mesa City returned to their home, no longer a dangerous gambling empire.

"You know even if we were arrested, the amount of good we've done might help us get a lighter sentence," I laughed.

Sly grinned and placed the newly acquired pages down. Again I noted on the bird like figure in the sky of all those old pictures. Something wasn't right...

"You guys up for another vacation?" Murray called from the front.

"To hollywood!" Sly said gleefully.

_**May 12th 1997**_

_**Haiti**_

_**1:03am**_

"Look I know there's no proof they exist, but science can't explain everything," I reasoned, "plus my paranormal scanner is beginning to pick up something."

We were currently making our way through the Haiti Swamp.

"It's probably just a knock off," Sly argued back, "plus why (of all people) do you believe in ghosts? Don't we have enough things chasing us?"

"I never said they were chasing us, just that they exist."

Sly just shrugged.

"Guys were here!" said Murray, parking the van as close to the swamp as possible.

Sly opened the back doors, "don't get distracted by the 'ghosts'" he said, before jumping out.

I grinned smugly as my paranormal scanner began to pick up multiple figures. After telling Sly about them I receded back into my computer chair. Even though I wasn't a field man there was no way I was going out there. Not because of the ghosts, but because of the bacteria. I hate bacteria...

_**May 12th 1997**_

_**Haiti**_

_**3:11am**_

"Why is it everytime Sly defeats a member of the Fiendish Five they reveal where the next member?" Murray laughed.

I chuckled a little at the truth in it, "I take it you and Sly want a vacation now?"

Murray nodded.

"Sounds good," came a voice from behind me.

I turned round to see Sly entering the van with more pages from the Thievius Raccoonus.

Murray reversed the van and began carefully navigating it through the Haiti Swamp. I wondered why Carmelita kept showing up wherever we went. Sly would be over the moon if I discussed with him the possibility that she's stalking us. Then the obvious came to me.

"That's it!" I shouted.

Murray skidded the van to a halt and Sly banged his head on the passenger window.

"Insepctor Fox must be assigned to our case!" I concluded.

There was a small brief silence before Sly started laughing.

"You haven't figured that out already? Jeez, and we call you the brains?" he said.

I laughed sheepishly. "Never mind. Keep driving Murray. We'll need to get to the harbour and board the early morning ferry if we want to make it to Anse A Galets."

"What's it like?" they both asked at once.

"A small island, the beaches have hotels nearby with ocean views from the rooms. Plus only an estimated fifty thousand people live there," I replied reading off the laptop.

"Awesome!" Murray replied.

"I take it we need fake IDs?" Sly added.

"I've already made them. Sly, you're Kevin Miller. Murray, you're Chris Murphy, and I myself am Matt Olsen," I replied.

"Random," Sly shrugged as I handed him his new ID.

_**May 14th 1997**_

_**Anse A Galets**_

_**12:36pm**_

"Guys! I don't need to tan or talk to girls! I just want to plan!" I whined as Sly and Murray dragged me against my will out of the hotel.

"Ahh," Sly sighed as they both pulled me down to lie on the beach with them, "I don't know what's better, the heist, the getaway or the vacation. What do you think Murray?"

"The food ofcourse," the hippo replied.

I need to get back to the hotel room. The Panda King's stronghold in China will need some careful analysis. I'd already noted on the reoccuring figure in the pictures in the Thievius Raccoonus. There was no doubt it was an owl and for some reason I have a feeling it's no coincidence, but Sly isn't going to let me leave. Unless I scare him away that is.

"Hey guys, why don't we go in the water?" I suggested grinning.

Sly's eyes nearly popped out from his skull.

"Sure," Murray yawned, "as long as we don't go too deep."

"Sly, you coming?" I asked innocently.

The raccoon jumped up and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Uhh, nah guys. I'm gonna go hit the bar," he answered.

"Oh okay," I replied as he walked off, "_chicken_," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" he asked sharply, spinning round.

"Oh nothing," I replied.

He stared me up and down.

"Chicken," I coughed.

Murray started giggling.

"Fine then! We'll see who can go the deepest," Sly retorted dragging me and Murray out to sea.

I laughed then remembered my plan was to get back to the hotel room. What was I thinking?...

**...**

"Again, we're really sorry guys," I spluttered as the three lifeguards swam, carrying me, Murray and Sly back onto land.

"Why did you even go in if you can't swim?" one of them frowned.

None of us had a reply other than immaturity.

_**May 15th **_

_**Anse A Galets**_

_**3:12am**_

Sly and Murray were both passed out after a night at the bar. Currently I was doing any research I could find on my family. Strangely enough I had found a website called 'TurtleTruth' containing many conspiracies on what happened to my family after the fire and where they are now. Most to do with my dad. I read in amusement:

_"It's the government, man!_

_They clearly killed off Wiseturtle so they could take his money! When are you people going to open your eyes!_

_Even if they did say Wiseturtle died last year I bet he's still alive somewhere in a foreign country!"_

I shook my head and continued my search, I was hoping one of them would have some facts on Rob. I read more theories. Honestly is that all people do these days, create make believe stories on past celebrities or the government?

_"I was doing some research on the hospitals and asylums in Paris. Wiseturtle's son 'apparently' broke out. I bet it was the government, or he never actually existed and it was all a cover story! Yeah it all makes sense now!"_

I considered calling it a night. I had already looked at the new pages of the Thievius Raccoonus and found the owl like figure in the background of the certian pictures. Soon we would be going after the Panda King. Then I noticed a story with Rob's name on it. Worth a try...

_"His son became a terrorist, that Robert kid! I saw a news video the other day and when I paused it, I spotted the kid and some friends throwing small explosives at buildings in Paris! I even have a video to prove it! Pause it at 0:27. He's apparently in league with an Anarchist Group in Paris."_

Oh god. Is this really what they dream about? For a few cheap laughs I decided to play the video and I nearly dropped out my chair when I saw Rob.

It was him.

It had to be. The sandy blonde hair, the light blue eyes. Even though it had been nearly eleven years I could still recognise his face. Nonetheless, the 'terrorism' was extremely minor. It looked more like a prank than anything else. The explosions were tiny. Still the group were waving flags and shouting "down with the government."

But one thing couldn't be argued with. I was over the moon! Rob was alive! I considered leading the gang back to Paris so I could find him, but we had already booked our ferry to China...

It wouldn't take long. Rob would probably still be in Paris by the time we were done. Hell, it might not even be him.

I took one last look at the paused video and felt my stomach turn. It was him alright. But what has he been doing all this time? Why was he with an Anarchist Group? God I hope I find out...

_**May 17th 1997**_

_**1:36 am**_

_**Kunlun Mountians**_

"Murray. What happened last time you wanted a snack?" I asked as Murray edged the van closer to the Snowcone stand.

"We got a key, remember?" he smiled.

I sighed, "fine. Just don't get into another race"...

**...**

"What did I say?" I screamed as Murray's van slid on the ice.

"Look Bentley. One of them wagered a key again. I know this a pretty strange deja vu, but don't deny it's not convient," the hippo replied, colliding head on with another vehicle.

"Hahaha," he laughed, "why are Chinese vehicles so quirky? They look like houses on wheels."

I peeped out the window. He had a fair point I suppose. Realising I was being negative I suddenly shouted, "you can do it!" as we sped through the home stretch.

I cheered as Murray went to go collect his key. More and more as we hunted the Fiendish Five, Murray has been pulling his weight. Not only did he get out of the van to get a key while Sly gunned for him, he had raced twice for us. He was gaining more confidence.

_**May 17th 1997**_

_**3:11am**_

_**Kunlun Mountians**_

"Sly! I did a cross analysis of the metal used in that high tech blasting vehicle and it turns out it can only be found in one place - the Krack Karov Volcano in Russia. That's got to be where we'll find the fifth member of the Fiendish Five. So get what you came for and let's get out of here!" I spoke down the binocucom.

Even though I was excited we could get straight to the final member of the Fiendish Five. It would also mean I would have to wait just a little longer to find Rob.

Otto Van Cooper's section of the Thievius Raccoonus contained much information on machinery. Enough to help Murray and I construct a turret on top of the van which could be hidden inside the interior.

We would need all the help we could get for the final member of the Fiendish Five. Unsuprisingly, he was an owl. Even Sly had started to notice the owl like figures in the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. Who was this guy?

_**May 25th 1997**_

_**22:45pm**_

_**Russia**_

"I knew this was a trap! Looks like i'll have to do some fast and furious hacking to shut down that gas before Sly's brain is turned to cheese," I said outloud, my heart racing.

"You can do it Bentley," Murray whispered anxiously as I entered the server.

"Haven't had to do this in a while," I said, thinking of the Empire and all my training.

Murray leaned over biting his nails, then stopped when he saw my laptop screen.

"I thought you were saving Sly, not playing a video game?" Murray asked, "it looks like Space Invaders!"

"Believe me Murray, all hacking is like this. Seriously, it's a suprise no ones taken over the world yet," I replied.

"Oh no! Looks like I triggered one of Clockwerk's security algorithms. Stay sharp Bentley," I spoke to myself.

"Look's more like you've moved onto the next level," Murray added, trying to defuse the tension.

"Level 3!" I shouted as I entered the next server.

After a few more tense moments, I had managed to save both Sly and Inspector Fox!

"I'm the best. No code can stand before me!" I cheered with Murray.

**...**

Me and Murray watched in horror as Sly just stood there as Inspector Fox gave him his ten second head start. What was he doing?

Seven, six, five, four, three, two...

One.

I couldn't believe it. Sure he had always been cocky but this was a whole new level. To him this would be a life long accomplishment. Murray fell out of the driver's door he was laughing so much.

Sly jumped in the back, Murray climbed back in and we escaped.

"I'm pretty sure you could be charged for that Sly," I warned him, "what if she was unwilling?"

"She seemed to enjoy it!" Sly laughed as Murray got us away from that god forsaken volcano, "she was at least distracted enough to let me handcuff her to the railing," he chuckled, revealing a key.

We all went quiet for a few moments then began laughing our heads off and it all sinked in.

We had done it.

Together we had taken down the Fiendish Five. That dream we made as kids was complete.

As Murray drove down the rocky terrain and Sly connected his beloved book back together I realised, this wasn't the end of our journey and we had many more to come.

The next one was to head straight to Paris so I could find a certian long lost brother of mine...

_**Hooray! That's the first game done. **_

_**I realised longer ISNT better looking at the reviews and I believe this is the shortest chapter to date :) **_

_**The next part will be very fun to right considering Bentley's family will be resurfacing once more.**_

_**Thankyou for reading and hope you enjoyed.**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 11**

_Okay guys here's Part 1 of the Rob Saga._

_Haven't got anything else to say except enjoy._

**The Modern Revolution**

After convincing Sly and Murray to lay low for a while, we were finally heading back to Paris. For Sly it must have felt great having a massive weight be lifted off his chest. No more stealing family heirlooms from crime syndicates. I on the other hand had a big problem to deal with, and arriving in Paris didn't ease my psyche.

Graffiti plagued the streets, bomb warnings could be seen left right and center, there were police everywhere.

"Just our luck," Sly grumbled as we stopped the van outside a two story house with a 'SOLD' sign outside.

"Bentley, you sure this is the place?" Murray asked nervously.

I nodded to him, "I looked it up online and I've agreed to purchase the place in person. Big basement. Three bedrooms and the ground floor has shaded windows, it couldn't be any more perfect.

"What brought this on?" Sly asked frowning.

"I'm fed up of living from place to place," I replied shortly.

After greeting the former home owner and paying him cash in person the house was all ours. Naturally we explored every inch of the house; the basement was going to be my work office where I couldn't be disturbed.

Straight away we moved our items from the van into the house. My crossbow I had received from my Uncle was put down in the basement in my new office. Murray immediately called dibs on the largest room so Sly reluctantly got the medium sized one, leaving me with the smallest.

Over the next few days we began ordering the living essentials offline. Eventually the place looked like a normal house (if you ignored the basement and didn't find our hiding spots that is). There was also something we had picked up on as well couldn't go ignored.

There were people each and every day marching down the street holding signs and chanting. There seemed to be two sides. One seemed to be against the government and claimed to support "The Modern Revolution", whoever or whatever that was and the other seemed to be in favor of bringing down Anarchy.

Murray didn't seem to care, he was too busy watching wrestling day in and out (a new hobby of his) to give it any notice. Sly just saw the groups as a convenient distraction for the police. I however had a gut feeling Rob would somehow be a part of this.

And so the reoccurring hunt for my family began again. This time I looked into this 'Modern Revolution' business. From studying online videos and news reports I had concluded that this group of Anarchists wanted the government to change a few laws. They also had a habit of gatecrashing government meetings, (whether they be public or private).

The terrorism was still (to my knowledge) very minor. The only weak proof the authorities had these people were terrorists was the group themselves claimed to be planning big attacks unless the government dropped a few laws. It could easily be idle threats.

As the days rolled by, Sly was more and more insistent on Murray and I joining him in the field.

"You already have a crossbow," he would argue, "next time we pull off a heist, you in?"

"I'd need training first," I reasoned, "and maybe another weapon at my disposal."

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know, i'll think of something, just give me time."

**...**

"Where you going?" Sly asked, looking up and down at my appearance.

"To attend a hearing from Jean Tiberi," I replied.

"The Mayor?" Sly looked puzzled, "why?"

"This whole 'Modern Revolution' business has me interested. I just want to see what the government is doing about it," I replied.

I was half telling the truth. Another reason was the Anarchist group usually attacked meetings just like this one. If Rob really was in with these people then I might run into him during the meeting...

Around about a hundred people turned up. Security was tight. Luckily I had thought ahead and worn a disguise, the only problem was I would have to find Rob since there was no chance he would recognize me in my ginger hair and goth attire.

I looked up at the stage and saw a goat being applauded as he walked on. This guy had to be the mayor.

"Thank you, thank you," he addressed the clapping quickly, "now, I want it to be made absolutely clearly the authorities do not tolerate Anarchist Extremists at all. One of the main reasons we implemented the new No Tolerance Law."

I wasn't quite sure what it was but a few people in crowd tutted or hissed and booed. The goat cleared his throat, but before anything else could be said a loud explosion could be heard several blocks away.

The whole crowd turned to the right in perfect sync and a four story building several streets away collapsed down on itself like a controlled demolition. These guys were serious.

Panic followed straight after. People began to bail one by one. The mayor was screaming "we will not be bullied by terrorists!" as security pulled him away. Then someone jumped up in midair and threw something at him. People screamed expecting another explosion; however it turned out to be nothing more than a rotten egg. I laughed then realized the person who had thrown it was a green turtle... with sandy blonde hair. _Oh god!_

Without even having to think I bolted straight towards where I had seen him. More and more people dispersed and so did the security. They all seemed to be heading towards where the explosion had gone off. As distressed citizens cleared the way for me I spotted him again he was walking over to a raccoon casually. I realized instantly it was Valentine, the man who used to work as a cleaner at my family's mansion.

"Rob! Valentine!" I yelled getting their attention.

As I stopped in front of them to get my breath back, they both looked beyond confused.

"Erm, can we help you?" Valentine asked.

I frowned before realizing I was still wearing my disguise and dropped the wig instantaneously. Both of their eyes strained at me like I was a ghost.

"Bentley?" Rob asked softly. His voice sounded like it was changing pitch constantly.

"I finally found you," I whispered just staring.

Then in a flash he picked me up and pulled me into a bear hug.

The screams and panic seemed to pause. Nothing mattered, I could not be happier. I looked at Valentine who was looking away awkwardly like this was none of his business.

"Long time no see," I said to him, making him smile.

"As heart-warming as this is. This isn't really the best time for a catch up," he announced, though he smirked a bit as well, "you remember the manhole Rob?"

Rob put me down.

"Yeah it's over there," he replied, grinning merrily.

I was pulled into this open sewer and the three of us climbed down it. The smell was inhumane but better this than be arrested. Once we had found firm footing down below the two of them whipped out flashlights and began leading the way to wherever we were heading.

"Where have you been all this time?" Rob whispered, as we heard sirens above us.

"All-over the place," I replied honestly, "where did you go straight after you left home?"

"We did rent out a flat together with the money we had, but then we heard about the fire on the news. We both thought you'd all died, you don't know how relieved I am," Rob said laughing to himself manically. Valentine nodded quickly.

I contemplated whether or not to tell him my full story regarding our father's death, my short lived reunion with our uncle and the fact James and Michael were running rampant, but decided maybe now wasn't the best time.

"Where are we going now anyway?" I asked, ignoring the rats scampering around my feet.

"Back to headquarters," Valentine answered.

Headquarters? Was it true what that conspiracy site said? Has Rob joined some kind of dangerous movement...

"What kind of headquarters?" I asked carefully.

Valentine stopped in his tracks.

"Do you really think Tyler is going to like this?" he asked Rob, "he's the only one who's allowed to bring people into the movement."

"Of course," Rob replied, "we're like best friends," he added absentmindedly.

I know it had been eleven years but Rob had changed. He just didn't seemed laidback anymore. I pushed the thought aside. People change I suppose.

"Who's Tyler?" I asked.

"The leader of our movement!" Rob shouted happily, making his voice echo down the sewer.

Valentine shushed him.

"I hope you're not too judgemental," the raccoon said to me, "we're part of the Anarchist Movement."

"You mean that Modern Rev-"

"Yeah," he replied shortly.

There was a brief silence.

"You guys- Uh, you guys haven't killed anyone, have you?" I asked biting my lip.

They both shook their heads thankfully.

"The movement isn't like that," Valentine stated firmly, "do you believe we're doing the right thing?"

"In all honesty, I don't fully know what you're doing," I replied.

Valentine sighed, "alright mate. You know what, we'll take you back to base but if Tyler flips, run and don't look back. Got it?"

I nodded. Rob laughed to himself.

**...**

After a few hours of hiding in the sewers we exited a manhole on the outskirts of Paris. We were in the really rundown areas which no one visited alone. Both Rob and Valentine began leading the way towards a dilapidated house. I wondered why. The place was damp, rotten, abandoned and looked like it was about to fall apart.

"You'll understand in a minute," Valentine whispered, noticing my confusion.

We entered through the open back door and trudged on the dusted floorboards. Inside it was pitch black, the only source of light was coming from the basement.

I felt my heart rate accelerate as Rob swung the basement door open.

"Honey, i'm home!" he called gleefully, chuckling to himself.

A fox appeared at the bottom staring at Rob.

"You're probably right Ryan, I may have gone too far," the fox said, staring Rob up and down.

Then he noticed me.

"Who's he?" he said loudly and in a flash there was a full gang of men staring up at me from the bottom of the basement.

"He's Rob's brother, Tyler" Valentine replied calmly addressing the fox. Valentine patted me on the shoulder and I instantly felt my respect for him rise.

"Brother?" Tyler asked, looking back at forth between me and Rob, "I thought your family died!" he shouted getting louder, "WE DON'T KEEP SECRETS AROUND HERE!" he screamed.

Rob fell back into a corner cowering and mumbling to himself. What had they done to him?

"He didn't know I was alive!" It took me a few seconds to realise I had just shouted.

This Tyler person stared at me for a few seconds.

"You're not with the police are you?" he asked sharply.

Before I could answer a gecko budged his way past Tyler and got a good look at me.

"Holy shi-," he went quiet, "that guy's in the Cooper Gang!"

Murmurs between them followed shortly and they all fought for position at the basement door to get a good look at me.

"You sure about that Jerome?" Tyler asked.

"One hundred percent. Bluddy hell Rob, you're just full of suprises!" the gecko called Jerome chuckled.

A bear next to Tyler suddenly spoke up aswell, "something tells me he's not with the police."

A few of them laughed and Tyler looked quite swayed at this revelation.

"Welcome to the movement!" he said beckoning me to go downstairs.

Whether it was fear or recklessness I obeyed him and walked downstairs to find a covert living headquarters.

"Sorry for the awkward introduction, let me introduce you to our members," he said, giving off an awkward laugh. "Excluding Rob and Valentine, there's six of us you haven't met," he added.

"This is Ronaldo," he said, pointing at a cheetah who shook my hand, "active field man, excellent free runner."

The cheetah nodded.

"This is Jerome," he continued as I shook hands with the gecko, "our brains of the operation."

The gecko retreated back to his bed and began studying his paperwork.

"Ryan, demolitions expert," he added and the bear from earlier nodded to me.

The next person Tyler approached scared me. Whether it was the murderous look, the eyes, or the copious amounts of battle scars. I couldn't quite decide.

"This is Drake. Meathead of the movement and our resident psychopath," Tyler said.

The Snow Leopard nodded at me slightly, grunted and walked away.

"And finally Pete, our professional scrounger," he said finally as I shook the dirty hands of the chameleon.

"Now introductions are over, I expect you'll want to talk to Rob," Tyler said to me then turned to his group, "in an hour we'll be heading out to cause some chaos," he shouted to the room large.

Behind me Rob cheered feebly as he lay sprawled out on his bed. I approached him.

"What kind of chaos is he talking about?" I asked nervously.

"What? Oh, nothing much. Probably just vandalism. Nothing terrorist related," he yawned.

The word _terrorist _made my supressed anger surface.

Even though I was outnumbered 8 - 1 and i'd only just got to known a few of them, I spoke up.

"Why did you become terrorists?" I asked, looking around the basement in general.

Silence hit the room pretty fast.

Rob answered, "Ben, we've been using non lethal methods to take care of the government."

Then another question came to mind.

"What has the government done to aggravate you?" I asked.

To my surprise, they all began laughing.

"You haven't been watching the news, have you?" Tyler spoke up.

I felt like replying; 'No, had to help my friend defeat an evil robotic owl', but decided to just shake my head.

He sighed, "the government have passed a law to detain and torture anyone suspected of terrorism."

It was my turn to laugh.

"So, you're all panicking, because the government is coming down hard on you guys," I gave Rob a pitiful look.

"You're not listening," said Tyler, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I said _anyone _can be detained and (as they call it) 'interrogated', regardless of whether the person is innocent or not. They don't get a trial."

Wow.

"Anyone?" I asked.

Valentine nodded sadly.

"We weren't terrorists before that, our involvement in terrorism is a direct result of this new law being passed. We're just trying to protect the public," Tyler added.

"What about the building you demolished earlier?" I said confused.

"Vacant. Just like any other building we've taken care of," Tyler answered.

I took a deep breath and swallowed my pride.

"Sorry for jumping to conclusions," I mumbled.

Everyone went back to what they were doing. Rob gave me one of his covers and I made a makeshift bed on the floor next to him.

Despite all the reasoning I had been handed, I still whispered to Rob.

"This entire business is dangerous. You should be doing something else in your life."

"I don't know why you care so much Bentley, I've learnt over the last few years from Tyler that life is absolutely pointless," Rob replied.

I sat up, "that's a depressing way to see the world."

He shrugged, "let me ask you something Bentley, what happens to the famous, rich, successful man at the end of his life?"

"He dies?" I said, wondering whether it was a trick question.

"And what happens to the homeless, poor, unsuccessful street beggar?"

"He dies too," I answered quietly.

"So," Rob stared at me, "what's the point in life?"

What had running away done to him?

"Well, erm, people leave legacy's behind," I reasoned.

"Legacy's?" Rob asked amused, "yeah, maybe for like a few decades. Eventually they'll either be forgotten or become a history lesson. And it's not like they're gonna get to appreciate it, they'd be long gone."

"What, you don't believe in the afterlife?"

He laughed, "Heaven is just a place for people who are afraid of the dark, sad but true. All of us in the movement know this best."

I decided to change the subject.

"Fine. On a different note. Have you seen any other members of our family?"

"Yeah," he replied, ruffling his hair, "James and Michael."

"Lucky you."

"Yeah," he laughed.

"Where and when?"

"I met Michael a few months back. He didn't say anything. Me and the movement were spray painting government buildings. It was early in the morning and I was on my own. I turned round and he was just stood there, staring at me," he shuddered slightly.

"What did he do?"

"Nothing. I bolted before anything else could be done, he killed a maid when he was younger. Who's to say he won't get me. I couldn't tell if we wanted to kill me or not, but it's strange, it's like he's always- always..."

"Watching," I said.

He nodded, "yeah..."

"And James?" I asked curiously.

"That was a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him. I ran straight over to hug him and then he just flipped, tried attacking me and asking about you, luckily my mates were with me and he ran off...," he paused for a second and looked at me, "you haven't seen him too have you?"

"Yeah," I replied shortly.

"What happened?"

"He wants to kill me, he's desperate for the Empire," I replied, wondering how much I would have to explain.

"Jesus. Really? I mean, I knew he was weird growing up with him but..." he was at a loss for words.

At that point our conversation stopped as Tyler approached us.

"Alright guys, there's been a change of plan. The members of government are all wrapped up in a meeting tonight. It's a perfect opportunity to vandalise," he grinned.

"I'm staying here tonight boss," Pete the chameleon said, "got to finish off that little project we've been talking about."

**...**

Against better judgement I decided to join them. Although if Rob wasn't so enthusiastic about their cause I probably would of convinced not to go along.

All eight of us stood on the rooftop, just below us was the car park outside the government.

"You got the graffiti?" Tyler asked Valentine.

They started handing out cans. Even I couldn't deny this was going to be hilarious.

We all leaped down, (well they did, I had to carried by Rob).

The movement began spray painting Anarchy symbols on windshields left, right, and centre. But then things looked like they were getting worse.

"We should place some explosives beneath the government's office," Rob whispered excitedly to Ryan.

The bear shook his head, "no need."

"Rob!" I hissed, "what's wrong with you? Why would you even suggest that?"

He stared at me for a few seconds with an expressionless face, then said, "sorry Bentley."

Tyler clapped his hands together. Rob immediately stared at Tyler and waited for him to speak.

"Right, we're done for tonight. I'm just going to drop this video off for the government. Rob, you go steal some food for us. Anyone else feel free to go with him," Tyler said.

Valentine and I were the only ones to join him on his trip to the local supermarket. It was never really in Sly's best interests to steal from food stores, since it was the general public working there, but I didn't complain.

Rob emptied out Valentine's bag to make room for whatever they were stealing. We entered a 24/7 Walmart, Valentine separated from us and we made our way down the first aisle.

Just as Rob unzipped the bag I heard a loud scream which had to be Valentine.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"He's just causing a distraction," Rob casually replied.

He was right, it worked like a charm. As all the staff were distracted by Valentine (pretending to be mad and drunk), me and Rob made off with enough food and drink to last the crew for a few days.

**...**

As we made our way back. I kept thinking about what Sly had said a few days ago about me joining him in the field. To some it may of sound crazy, but I think I had an idea for my new weapon...

"Erm Ryan," I greeted the bear awkwardly. We were back in the hideout.

"Yeah?" he looked up.

"Can you teach me how to be a demolition's expert," I asked quickly.

The whole crew heard. There was a brief silence and then Rob started cheering, "nice one, Bentley. Getting involved."

Tyler gave Ryan a nod of approval and he walked me over to a corner of the basement. With the help of that meathead Drake, they moved a bed, revealing a trapdoor underneath.

He lifted it up. Stairways led down it. He turned on a switch and the secret room lit up. I was impressed; it was at least fifty feet tall.

"How?" I asked bewildered.

"We lucked out," the bear replied as we made our way downstairs, "we believe these houses were created back in the forties when France and Germany were at each other throats. Makes sense that they would design houses with underground rooms to hide in when planes were bombing cities."

I nodded in agreement. The room only had a few crates and what not. Ryan opened one revealing bottles, containing a dark brown liquid.

"It's nitro-glycerine," he explained, "perfect to make explosives with. You ready to begin?"

I nodded nervously.

**(A/N - As much as i'd love to teach you all how to create explosives, I think i'll leave this part out. No one seemed to mind when I didn't go too detailed with the hacking in Chapter 6)**

My first lesson consisted of just creating explosives. Since science was one of my best subjects, things went pretty well. Ryan praised my 'natural' abilities and said we would get onto using them next time.

Most of them had gone sleep by the time we were done. This was perfect, after leaving a note explaining I would be back to help out (although it was more just to stay with Rob) I headed up the basement stairs, through the dilapidated house and made my way back to the safe house.

When I got home, Murray was up.

"Oh thank god, Bentley!" he cried, pulling me into a hug, "me and Sly saw the meeting on the news, we thought you had been injured or arrested."

"I'm fine," I replied, "just had to spend my time evading police."

"Awesome!" He moved over to the kitchen, "I'll make you some dinner."

I said "thanks" and just stared at him in guilt.

_Here we are again Bentley _I thought to myself _abusing your best friend's trust and kindness to hide your stupid family secret. You're pathetic._

I stopped mentally bashing myself as Sly came downstairs.

"Where you been pal?" He asked me.

"As you probably already know that Anarchist group crashed the meeting," I replied.

He nodded.

"I had to get into hiding. If the police spotted me, they might of recognised me. Plus I've been thinking about what you said the other day about me joining you out on the field."

"Yeah?" Sly looked curious.

"Along with my crossbow, I'm thinking of creating small bombs to help around thugs. I-I'm not strong like you or Murray so I'll need to defend myself."

I expected them to be shocked since it's closely related to terrorism. Instead they both cheered.

"This'll be awesome!" Murray shouted, "I can be the brawn and getaway driver. Sly can be the main field man and best thief! And now you can be the brains and- and the erm..."

"Demolition's expert?" I said.

"Yeah!"

They both began cheering and Murray passed me the omelette he made me.

I took a bite of it and smiled. Not because Murray's cooking was so good, but because they hadn't seemed this happy in a long time.

…

I was awoken the next morning to the smell of bacon butties. Motivated by hunger, I ventured downstairs to see Murray had made breakfast.

"Come on chum!" Murray yelled as he saw me, "let's watch wrestling together!"

I was handed a plate of bacon butties and reluctantly sat down on the sofa.

I wolfed the butties down and listened to Murray telling me about his favourite wrestlers.

"Where's Sly?" I asked.

"He said he was going to the gym. Now, where was I? Oh yeah! My favourite is-" Murray stopped short as the TV suddenly cut to a news report.

"_A video tape just in. A note attached to the tape requests all citizens and members of government view it."_

The report cut to a low quality video. All we could see on it was the nightclub just down the road from our house.

Murray got up and looked down the road.

"I don't see a camera," he said to me.

"Of course not," I pointed at the TV, "Look at the background on the video. It was night time when this was recorded."

"_To the government of France, and the citizens of Paris: We are The Modern Revolution."_

Murray looked intrigued. I on the other hand knew that was Tyler speaking. He must have hid behind the camera when he made the video.

"_Law and order is spreading at a fa__ster rate than man can keep up with. As each day passes we unknowingly become more controlled and imprisoned by the laws created by our government. The day is not coming when we become enslaved to their rule. We intend to stop them. We have risen in response to the newly passed law, allowing any government controlled authorities to arrest, imprison and torture any French Citizen suspected of terrorism. This law also allows the government to deny any trial or heading from the suspect, before the interrogation and torture. We not allow innocent members of the public fall victim to this so called law. We've attempted various methods; marching, pleading, even rioting out of desperation. Since the government is refusing to listen to us, we have ironically been forced to commit terrorism, which brings me neatly to this next point..."_

At that point my ears went deaf as an explosion went off outside. The nightclub on TV had just blown up outside. Sirens could be heard closing in. I went back to the TV, to hear what else Tyler had to say.

"_If you're still watching this, then that means we've destroyed the Le' Plaza Nightclub. Fortunately it was vacant, but if the government fails to remove this newly implemented law then things will get worse. Much worse."_

At that point Sly came running in.

"Guys! What happened!" the raccoon yelled.

"The whole building blew up!" Murray replied, whether he was excited or shocked though, I couldn't tell.

I turned the TV up.

"_You can't trace our whereabouts or identities, even if you found any finger prints at the bomb sites. Our birth records have been destroyed. You don't know who we are and you can't find us. We cannot and will not be stopped."_

The video stopped playing.

"Jesus," Sly whispered.

I slumped to the couch.

What has Rob gotten himself into?

_**Okay that's part one over and done with. Lots of things happening I suppose. **_

_**I'm glad to have a fresh new group to introduce, rather than the Empire or James and Co.**_

_**Let me know what you think etc. etc.**_

_**Thank you for reading my story **_


	12. Chapter 12

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 12**

_Sorry about the slow updates, been getting major writers block etc._

**Gustav Pierre's Asylum**

Ever since 'the movement' had staged a live terrorist attack, Paris had changed drastically. Firstly the National Guard had been called in. Secondly no one was allowed to come in or out of the city until the terrorists were found. Everyone was worried.

I was still in debate whether or not the movement was in the right or wrong.

Sure they had begun using lethal threats, but this isn't for fun or power, it's out of desperation. If that law hadn't been passed, none of this would have started.

Regardless, I have to make sure Rob is okay. The only problem is he seems reluctant to leave the group, and even if I did get him away from them. How would he live with me, Sly and Murray?

Oh the joys of my secret family.

"You two ready for some training?" Sly asked.

I nodded.

"Sure buddy, but where?" Murray said.

I smiled, "me and Sly have been working on that."

We led him downstairs where the basement had been turned into a large warehouse for training. An idea I admittedly stole from Tyler and friends.

"This is awesome!" the hippo exclaimed. He pulled on his maroon gloves and head gear.

"You may call me 'the Murray!'"

Sly and I looked at each other.

"Come again?" Sly asked.

"Have no fear Sly! The Murray knows no pain!"

Had Murray gone from childlike to insane in the space of a few seconds?

Sly pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Murray, please stop watching Wrestling."

"Never!"

Sly had set up some target practice for my crossbow training. I was getting better, neither of them bothered to ask where I had got my natural talent from. While those two were busy fighting or training each other, I would make hand sized bombs.

Some were designed to detonate a few seconds after I dropped them; some had triggering devices so I could set them off remotely. Either way, I had found my place in the 'field'.

"It might be a good idea to do some reconnaissance work on this movement that's been all over the news," I spoke up after placing the crossbow on my desk.

"What all three of us?" Sly asked, looking up from his Thievius Raccoonus.

"Yeah, it's good practice, plus we need to get a grasp on the situation around us," I added.

The two of them agreed, but when nighttime came I would be with the movement, not against them…

I climbed out of the manhole and into the dead silent street. I spotted the familiar destroyed house and ventured inside.

Surprisingly, Rob was standing at the basement door.

"Rob?" I asked gently.

He jumped a mile, "oh Bentley, good you're here. I've been thinking about what you said the other day?"

"Well, I did say this organization is dangerous," I admitted.

"No not that! I'm on about Michael, I have an idea," he whispered excitedly.

"Okay."

"Why don't we go find some files and stuff at his old asylum?"

"What!" I nearly yelled. He covered my mouth.

I remembered that place from all those years ago. It was creepy enough with people working there, but my father had said Michael broke out and massacred the workers and inmates. I wasn't too comfortable sneaking around there at one in the morning.

"Come on Bentley. Don't you want to know what his condition is?" Rob asked, checking over his shoulder.

He had a point. Having all the facts is key. Now if only the intel wasn't in the middle of a spooky forest in an abandoned asylum.

"Look, I'll just go on my own then," he mumbled to himself.

"Fine, I'll come along" I said, still thinking about it, "but later."

He nodded.

When we got downstairs, everyone was staring me down.

"So he did come back," growled Drake in the corner.

"Like I said," I tried to sound casual.

"We thought you might have squealed," said Tyler, walking into the basement.

"And now you know we're actually dangerous, the question is, can we trust you?" Pete added, looking at his teammates, then back at me.

The next thing I knew, Rob, Valentine and Ryan were standing in front of me.

"He's not a threat," said Valentine.

Tyler stared him up and down and shrugged.

"I trust him," Ryan said clearly.

Something told me Ryan was well trusted in the movement, since the rest took this into consideration, even Tyler.

"Very well," Tyler said breaking the silence.

He then turned to Ryan, "go train him."

I was gestured to follow him into the basement. When I looked back everyone was staring Rob and Valentine down.

"Pathetic," Ryan sighed, shaking his head.

For the last forty odd minutes I had been failing miserably.

The thought of heading to the asylum was making me lose concentration, not the best time considering I was making and handling bombs.

I set off the next one and looked at the bear.

"Above average blast radius, but you can do better," he said.

It was nearing two in the morning when he started to feel sleepy and decided to stop our training.

I went upstairs to find Tyler and that Ronaldo guy looking over a big map of Paris.

"Got any other areas in mind?" Ronaldo asked.

"Nope, just waiting for the government's response," Tyler replied.

I made my way over to Rob who was talking quietly with Valentine.

"Are you seriously thinking of going that asylum?" said Valentine.

I sighed, "it's not my idea."

"Feel free to join us!" Rob added grinning.

Valentine shook his head, "nah, it's a little bit personal for you two. Plus I'll vouch for you if Tyler notices you're gone."

We waited till everyone had gone bed, said goodbye to Valentine and made our way to the asylum.

The asylum had become even more dilapidated. If it had spooked me when I was seven then I couldn't wait to venture inside now.

"No one ever purchased this place after the massacre," Rob whispered as we approached the entrance.

"Please don't mention that," I said shuddering.

He shrugged and looked to our right.

"We'll need to turn on the generator. Otherwise we'll be walking around in the pitch black," he said.

He found the rundown power station and flipped the switch.

It was a good thing the asylum was in the middle of a forest; the whole place lit up in seconds. Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, when I looked up I caught a glimpse of a shadow move past a window on the second floor. Or was I just seeing things?

"Rob, I'm not so sure about this," I said worried.

"Come on," he mumbled.

I cringed as the front doors opened with a creak, but sucked up my fear and followed Rob.

After we passed the main lobby we moved onto first floor. Now we had recharged the power, the entire security system in the asylum had been rebooted. The cells to asylum's inmates were very secure. It was clear they had little freedom.

"Michael wasn't sent here to be treated, dad sent him to be confined forever," Rob said harshly as we tried to find Michael's old cell.

The place had not been cleaned since 'the massacre'. There were bloodstains all over the wall.

We eventually found his old room with his name still on the door.

Fortunately the cell door was still open so we ventured inside and began rooting through his files and old videos.

Then we found an old tape recorder and a cassette titled; _"Michael's first week – 25/11/69" _

I pressed play and immediately recognized Dr. Lector's voice on it:  
><em>"Michael has been screaming his innocence for the past few days. Since he refuses to be quiet, we left him in the pitch black. Michael's father strongly advises his son should stay in the asylum as long as<em>_ possible, and since he generously donated heavily to our company, how can we refuse him? Segment over."_

"He must have paid them off," Rob muttered quietly.

I nodded in silent agreement. I had seen Michael when I was seven, why didn't I help him?

We rooted around a little until Rob found a video; the date was four years after the tape recording. We turned on an ancient TV and found a VCR. For a few seconds we were staring at a blank screen, and then it cut to a camera from inside Michael's room. I looked up at the ceiling and sure enough there was a camera there.

On the screen was Doctor Lector, he looked much younger than I saw him. There were two nurses and Michael was restrained in his bed.

"_A client of ours from London had agreed to pay us to test __out his illegal spice formula," _said Dr. Lector holding a syringe which had been filled with alight brown liquid.

"_The last few patients suffered severe brain damage after being injected," _a nurse pointed out.

"_Not to worry. This formula has been diluted by an__abolic steroids. If his body has multiple changes while the spice is taking effect, he may survive it."_

Michael didn't say a word. He just looked fearfully at the syringe. He must have only been ten years old, give or take.

The nurses grabbed Michael's arm firmly as Dr. Lector injected the foreign substance into Michael's bloodstream.

Rob and I gasped. At first it looked like he was having a seizure.

Dr. Lector spoke calmly, "when past patients were tested with the spice formula they would usually jerk violently like Michael is doing now." The nurses nodded as Michael groaned in pain. Whatever was in the formula, it wasn't nice. _"If Michael survives then the next symptoms should be uncontrollable rage," _said Lector reading off a clipboard.

And it happened.

At first Michael tried to grab at the nurses, then when he realized he couldn't reach he began to scream, "I'll kill you!"

It sounded so weird coming from a child.

He pulled at the restraints for a few more moments. Eventually he stopped and began panting out of breath.

"_Excellent," _said Lector,_ "Michael has passed his first test__." _He then turned to the nurses, _"now we've found the perfect patient to experiment on bringer a stronger dose. These next few years should be interesting," _Lector grinned as Michael began to plead and scream.

The video ended.

"That would explain his strength," I barely mumbled, traumatized by what I had just seen.

Then a question hit me. What was this spice? It had to be a concentrated dose or specific type, maybe both.

"Hey, this camera has a recording in it," Rob said.

I snapped out of my thoughts and spun round; Rob had pulled out the video from the camera in Michael's room. He slowly put in the VCR and we waited.

The date appeared on the blank screen; 21/09/1996.

"That's the day Michael broke out," Rob said shuddering.

I watched more intently. Then the screen changed showing Dr. Lector, a nurse and Michael. The latter was still being force fed spice. His body had become much more muscular. An obvious side effect of the constant steroid abuse his body suffered from. However despite the fact Lector was injecting spice into his body, he didn't move at all. He was just lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling blankly.

Lector seemed to notice this too and he grabbed a photograph of the side.

"_See this Michael? __It's a picture of your family," _said Lector holding the photograph to his face.

At first Michael didn't acknowledge it, but then I caught his eyes light up as he took a glance at the photograph. Then Lector and the nurses left him in his room in the darkness. We watched for a few minutes but nothing happened.

"You sure this is the right date?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, let me fast forward it," Rob replied.

We watched as the hours passed by on the recording and still no movement from Michael. Someone would have mistaken him for a corpse, but then as 2am passed on the screen we noticed Michael begin to move. We played it at normal speed. Slowly but surely he broke free from each of his restraints, till there were none left to hold him. He got up slowly then examined his room as though he had never seen it before. He walked straight to the wall and pulled a thin pipe off. Then he made his way towards the exit and took one last look at the camera before breaking down his door. Silence followed abruptly, and then there were screams. We heard Lector shout, "Michael!" before being silenced. We could only imagine what happened as the video ended.

I looked at Rob, "can we please get out of-"

I fell silent immediately as I heard loud footsteps beneath us.

"Do you reckon it's the police?" Rob whispered.

My stomach dropped as I heard James' voice.

"No," I replied, "it's much worse."

I immediately grabbed Rob and pulled him under Michael's bed with me. Then I peeked out from under it. A shadow could be seen behind the doorway. We held our breaths as the door creaked open and someone walked in.

Whoever it was walked in slowly and seemed to be looking at the VCR, and then I heard Rob yell. He leapt out of hiding and I followed reluctantly. We got a good look at our foe; it was that Marcel character, James' friend. Rob tackled him, hitting him repeatedly in his head until I had to get him to stop. Voices could be heard getting closer.

I reached into my shell and pulled out my crossbow, cocking it loudly to let them know I was armed.

I then charged out into the hallway, looking left there was no one, when I spun to the right, that gorilla called Quinton was running on all fours silently towards me.

"No!" Rob screamed tackling Quinton before he could hurt me. The gorilla knocked Rob to the floor and began beating him. I fired a single bolt into his chest and he collapsed instantly.

I went to help up Rob when I felt a sharp searing pain at the back of my head. I fell to the floor, all I could hear was a door being locked and Rob screaming. When my sight recovered James was standing there and I realized he had locked Rob in Michael's old room.

"Let him out!" I yelled, despite the fact I was outnumbered.

James grinned then held a walkie talkie to his maw, "cut the power."

Everything went pitch black. I could hear Rob banging on the door.

"Give me all the money you stole off 'daddy' or ickle Rob dies inside that cell," James spoke firmly.

"I don't have his bank card!" I pleaded, "just let him go!"

"He's lying," said a panther to James.

James sighed and nodded to his panther friend and then all I felt was being punched and the blissful sensation of passing out.

I woke up, taped up inside a very dark confined space. The sound of a car engine made me realize I was trapped in the trunk of a car. I listened for any voices.

"What do we do James?" I heard a man's voice, possibly the Gorilla.

"We mug him for the bank card. If he doesn't have it, we'll get the address from him and storm his place," James replied.

I started hyperventilating, then the car came to a halt. At first I came to the terrifying conclusion that they were getting out then I heard one of them say, "just run the red light," and realized we were at some traffic lights. I began to kick and scream against the trunk as hard as I could.

"Quiet down!" I heard James shout. We started moving.

I gave one last kick and the trunk broke open. My first instinct told me to leap, but being all taped made it difficult. I literally rolled out and landed on the cold sidewalk. James and his friends sped off as another vehicle approached me. I had banged my head during the jump and everything had gone blurry and distant. Then a van screeched to a halt next to me and someone went to pick me up. My vision faded to black as I reluctantly passed out again.

_**Hooray for mediocre cliffhangers!**_

_**Sorry for the slow updates lately. My creative juices have grinded to a halt. **_

_**Feedback is much appreciated.**_

_**Thank you reading my story **_


	13. Chapter 13

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 13**

**The Slippery Slope to Insanity**

When I woke up, the first thing I realized was I was in my bedroom. Had the entire visit to the asylum been a dream?

I made my way downstairs.

"Oh, Bentley! You're okay, what happened?" Murray asked as I entered the kitchen.

"What do you mean?"

"Me and Sly, we didn't know what to do. We couldn't take you to the hospital in case they recognized us and we couldn't risk a disguise since they might undress you while we weren't there," Murray babbled.

"Wait a minute. Why would I need to go hospital?" I said frowning.

"I found you on the sidewalk two days ago."

I shook my head confused, and then realized; the visit to the asylum had not been a dream.

That meant Rob was still there.

"Uhh, Murray. I'm going to go get some rest," I said quickly, "and thanks for saving me."

"Hold on! How did you end up on the sidewalk?" the hippo asked.

"Tried to free run. You know practice for fieldwork, but it ended badly," I lied, quickly making my way to my room.

I didn't see his response. I jogged back upstairs three steps at a time. I locked my bedroom door and loaded my crossbow into my backpack. Rob could still be trapped; god knows what state he's in. I left my room unlocked and snuck out threw a ground window…

I panted heavily as the asylum came into view. My asthma wasn't helping either but the thought of Rob close to death forced me to keep moving.

The front doors were still open. I bolted into the lobby and up a flight of stairs, praying desperately he was alright.

When I arrived on the second floor, I tried frantically to remember which room it was. All of them were locked.

"Rob!" I shouted.

A faint mumble came from down the hallway.

"Rob!"

I heard him again. Realizing it was the door just in front of me I unzipped my backpack.

"Hold on," I said loudly, pulling out a prototype bomb I had been working on, "and stay well clear of the door."

I placed the explosive next to the hinges and ducked for cover. The blast radius wasn't too large but the door shattered into pieces. I ran inside and found him on the floor. His breathing was shallow and he looked pale.

"Bentley," he muttered softly.

"It's going to be okay," I said gently, helping him up, "come on. We need to get out of here."

I found the nearest road and paid off an elderly trucker to drive us to the city center.

I pretty much dragged him to the nearest café and grabbed some free refreshments.

"Eat!" I said forcefully.

Rob was in a worse state than usual. The entire journey he had been muttering and giggling to himself. Of course being locked up in a pitch black asylum can't be too good for one's mental health.

This entire business with those terrorists has been nothing but trouble for Rob. Although I wasn't sure how I would explain him to Sly and Murray, he was not going back there.

"Rob, after this, you're coming back to my place," I said quietly, looking over my shoulder.

"Oh, how long for? Don't you think the guys will wonder where I am," he replied.

"No, Rob. You don't get it. You're not going back."

"Orders?"

I spun round to see a waiter staring at me.

"I'm still choosing," I said quietly, forcing a smile. He walked away.

"What do you mean?" Rob asked, he started to look even shiftier.

I couldn't control myself.

"Just look at you!" I yelled, receiving a few stares from the strangers around me, "you're pale. You look like you're waiting to die."

"But I need to do the right thing!" he started up, "our movement-"

"I don't give a fuck about the movement!" I yelled. In the corner I could see the staff speaking in hushes voices, "I don't care whether I have to drag you or not. You are not going back there."

"We know what we're doing. It's not dangerous" he mumbled.

"Sorry, but I've lost enough members of my family to let you go through with it."

"Sir, I am afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I spun round again to see a tiger in uniform. Can't they see I'm a little busy?

"You do that," I replied dismissively.

The next thing I knew we were being dragged out of the café and dumped on the city street. I got back up on my feet and stared at Rob, ready to tackle him if he tried to run.

"Fine, I'll leave," he said slowly.

"Seriously?" I asked quickly.

"But first we need to get Valentine outta there," he reasoned.

Damn. So close. I'd completely forgotten about him. The two of them had probably never been apart since Rob had run away from home and I couldn't imagine living without Sly or Murray around.

"Okay, but we have to be quick," I whispered making sure we were alone.

He nodded.

We crept through the dilapidated house. Just a few feet below us a group of very capable terrorists were plotting. Tension doesn't even begin to describe this.

"Right," I hissed, "no dilly dallying. We greet them as per usual, say we stayed at my place, grab Valentine and leave."

"Okay dokey," he replied smiling. For once he looked like his old self.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the handle. I peeped inside, there was no one. Confused I swung it open, only to be dragged to the floor by Tyler and the rest of his cronies.

"Where have you two been?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"My place!" I exclaimed.

"Leading a different lifestyle? We can't have that," Drake the leopard replied in a dark tone.

I looked around for Valentine. Then I spotted him sat in the corner and gasped. He looked like he had been hit by a truck.

"What happened?" I asked, about to go get him up, but I was knocked back down.

"He wouldn't reveal where you two had run off to so Drake taught him a lesson," replied Tyler, glancing at Valentine with a smirk.

"Bentley," Valentine mumbled weakly, "there's something you need to know about Rob," he paused for a second to glare at Tyler, "they did it to him."

"What?" I asked nervously.

To this question Tyler clapped his hands and Rob bolted upright from his slouching position. He stared directly at Tyler. It was almost as if he was waiting for an order.

"A rare tactic of hypnotism," Tyler announced brightly, "you're credited as the brains of the Cooper Gang, are you not? Yet you failed to notice the change in your own brother's personality. Bravo."

To this I had no reply.

He turned to his men.

"I've come to my decision. Since the government has failed to come to our agreements, all hell is breaking loose tomorrow. We need to prepare ourselves."

He turned to me.

"Now, since you've proven your worth to us, we'll make you a fair choice. You can either A) get out of here and never come back or B) die. Your call," said Tyler.

"What if he tells the police?" Drake asked.

Tyler laughed. "What, him? An internationally wanted criminal? Ha, if so then I wish him luck."

"Some hero you turned out to be," I said bitterly, having no choice but to leave.

I entered the already dark streets of Paris, feeling like I had just been beaten to within an inch of my life. How could I save Rob now?

Reluctant and hopeless I returned to the safe house…

When I switched on the kitchen light the first thing I noticed was a note in Sly's handwriting.

_Dear Bentley _

_ Me and Murray have gone to bed. If you're hungry then your tea is in the microwave __J__ we're both sorry about the last few days, we forget you're not exactly used to field work. Mind you, neither is Murray, getting back to the point we can do more crossbow training if you like. Just take it easy okay._

_Yours brotherly, Sly._

_P.S If you're wondering why I'm writing this like a formal letter then you're just as confused as I am. _

I put my tea in the microwave and started pacing back and forth.

Rob's still trapped with those terrorists. Worse, he's been brainwashed by them.

Plus Tyler's taking the terrorist attacks up a notch now since the governments failed to meet his demands. Great.

After my meal I went to bed. As I got comfortable, I mentally braced myself, much like I did before the Fiendish Five hunt. Things were about to get serious.

The next morning I woke up not to find the city completely destroyed.

Strange.

Sly and Murray were still asleep so with some effort, I made them breakfast, maybe not at Murray's standards or quantity but breakfast nonetheless.

When they finally woke up and ate I checked the news for any warning signs. Surprisingly none.

"Hey, there's a letter at the door," Sly.

I got up to go see what it was.

"What it is?" I asked.

"Al leaflet from the government," he said slowly.

"What does it say?"

"Says it an 'Anti-Terrorist Guide'," he handed it me.

"Number one; please refrain from visiting any famous landmarks. These are more than likely, the terrorist's targets," I read out loud.

"The government is just guessing," said Sly.

I privately agreed.

The leaflet had little to no benefit for us so it was discarded almost immediately. I gave the guys the rundown, telling them we would get involved if things got serious.

I watched the news as Sly and Murray loaded the van.

There was nothing that caught my eye. Apparently a sleazy iguana was buying the nightclub opposite our safe house.

Then we heard it.

The explosion broke the sound barrier and the next thing I knew all the news channels were cutting to a popular theatre, which had been completely destroyed.

I turned the channel up as Sly and Murray made their way inside.

"_It appears the 'Modern Revolution' have made good on their threats and intend to destroy buildings in Paris until their demands are met," _said a news reporter in a stone faced manner.

Outside we could hear screaming and sirens. Paris had officially become chaotic.

"Right guys, there's been a slight change of plan. We're still going to help fight off the 'Revolution' but the van needs to be redecorated to appear like a news van. It's the perfect disguise!" I spoke quickly.

"Don't worry little buddy! Just let me and Sly work on that, you start building a game plan," Murray piped up.

It had been a few hours since the first attack on the city. The gang and I were currently monitoring the area for any suspicion activity in the van.

If a police car began to follow us, then we would pull a 180 on them and start bugging them for information, as if we were real reporters. Naturally they would keep the case private and leave quickly.

Murray came to a halt at the top of a car park.

"Guys, I can see a woman down there. She's being confronted by some leopard," said Murray.

I looked in his direction to see none other than Drake down below.

"Let's get moving," I said quickly.

**(A/N- Time to change to third person.)**

"Listen lady, we don't like people sticking their noses in our business," Drake growled.

"Please," the squirrel pleaded, "I won't tell anyone what you did."

The leopard gave a harsh laugh, "and I'm supposed to take your word for it?"

"Please, I have three boys," she began to sob.

"Shut up and I'll make this painless," he said grabbing her by the throat.

"Hey, leopard guy."

Drake spun round to see a burly pink hippo staring down at him.

The hippo took one look at the woman, "go," he said.

She fell over her own two feet, stumbling away.

"Is it James?" Drake asked the hippo suddenly, "Rob's brother."

"What?" asked the hippo, "I am none other than 'The Murray!'"

Drake's first impression was this guy was a real idiot.

Slowly and casually he pulled his knife out of his sleeve.

"Maybe we can work something out?" Drake reasoned, moving closer.

He went to swipe at the hippo's throat but that never happened, instead he felt a searing white pain in the back of his skull and collapsed to the floor.

A raccoon stood over him, cane in hand.

"Thanks Sly," the hippo mumbled sheepishly, "that was close."

"No worries. You would have done the same for me."

"Erm guys," a turtle appeared on the scene, "don't we have a job to do?"

**(Back to Bentley)**

Drake was left restrained and out of the way.

There had yet to be any explosions.

"Come on guys think," said Sly, "if you were a terrorist, where would you target in Paris?"

I scratched my head, the movement were smart, organized.

"Where would they target…" I pondered, looking out of the van's windows to the Eiffel Tower.

Oh crap.

"Err guys-"

I was cut off by several screams coming from down the road.

"Hey, there's a chameleon guy attacking people on the streets," Murray pointed out.

I looked out of the front window to see that Jerome person from the movement. The public had scarpered and he was spray painting on anything he could fine. In fact he was approaching us quickly; I don't think he even realizes we're inside the van. And then he made a big mistake.

"Did he just spray paint part of the van?" Murray asked quietly.

A small silence followed.

I gave Sly a 'calm him down' kind of look.

"Now Murray-"

Sly's voice was drowned out by the bellowing from Murray as he slammed the door behind him. We both followed swiftly.

"Touch my van will you?" Murray yelled grabbing Jerome by his neck.

The chameleon thought fast, punching Murray quickly in the eye causing the latter to drop the former onto the floor.

And then he vanished.

Crafty chameleon.

"Keep your eyes out," I said to them both, "he's only blending in with his surroundings, if he moves we'll see a slight blur."

And we did. He winded Murray first, sacrificing his stealth but taking out the biggest threat at the same time. The hippo collapsed on the ground, Sly went to grab Jerome but the sneaky devil used his camouflage again and we couldn't see him at all.

I looked around desperately for anything to help. I spotted the graffiti can Jerome had dropped before Murray attacked him. I grabbed it and began spraying all around me. He began to appear.

That was all Sly needed. The raccoon swung his cane at Jerome's head, sending him tumbling to the floor.

I checked his pulse as Sly helped Murray to his feet.

"He's okay," I said.

We all got back into the van. Murray grumbled about the red marks on the bonnet, it didn't matter anyway; it already had a new coat to disguise itself as a news van.

Murray was just about to start the engine when a police car rolled up.

We all exchanged nervous glances.

"Bentley. Plan," said Sly.

I looked around desperately then saw the fake camera and the reporter's disguise…

**(Back to third person)**

The police officers stepped out of their car. A gecko was on the floor and there were some people hiding inside a van.

They were about to approach the suspicious vehicle when a turtle walked out with a hippo, who holding a camera.

"Hello channel five and we are reporting live from Paris where it appears two officers have successfully dealt with a terrorist," the turtle said gesturing towards the two officers.

The small turtle walked straight up to the officers, "please tell us, how did you deal with this man? You know, a lot of people have been saying the local police department has been dealing with all this terrorist business in a pretty incompetent manner, but this scene says otherwise," the turtle babbled.

One of the officers was about to correct him, telling him that they hadn't done anything but then his co-worker gave him a small nudge.

"He was attacking people and we had to act," he spoke bravely.

"Very well done," the turtle praised them.

One of the officers looked at the hippo who looked just as astonished as they did.

"Urgh we need to leave now," one of the officers said slowly, "thanks... for the interview."

"Anytime," the turtle replied.

They got back in their vehicle and drove off quickly.

"That was incredible Bentley!" the hippo said laughing.

A raccoon poked his head out of the van.

"Nice work, got any other ideas?" he asked.

The turtle took one look at the Eiffel Tower.

**(Back to Bentley)**

Murray parked on the Champ de Mars. Everyone was tense and quiet.

Looking through the front window we could only see the base of the tower.

It was a big and iconic target. Suprising really they didn't target this earlier.

"Bentley, what if they plan to take out the tower as a finale? We'll miss out on all the other things they do," said Sly.

"It's a possibility, but I don't want to leave here and find out they blew up this place later," I reasoned.

"So we're putting our faith in Interpol to care of the rest of it?"

I couldn't tell whether he was being sarky or not.

The sky outside was a dark indigo. Hours had passed since my decision to wait it out at the tower. I wasn't sure or not whether Murray had gone sleep and Sly had been restless for the past half hour or so.

"Right, I say we scope the area out," he said, climbing over the front seat and grabbing his equipment.

"You're on the next long shift," I added smugly.

The three of us had been walking around the area for recon every half hour and this time Sly had to take the long route.

I wrapped up warm and made my way along the outskirts of the forest part; Murray had parked the van in the woods. Sly would be walking around the Eiffel tower's base and Murray would be doing the opposite of my side.

It was a long boring cold fifteen minutes before I got back to Murray.

"All clear," said the hippo.

"Same," I said aswell.

_"Guys? There's something strange going on."_

That was Sly's voice over the binocucom.

"What's up Sly?" I asked quickly.

"I've found a bunch of policemen knocked out at the base of the tower. I think they were trying to guard it. Wait. Someone's coming, I can hear them," he whispered.

"Sly! Get back here quick!" I nearly yelled.

"That guy is moving so quick," was all Sly said, before I heard him grunt and fall silent over the radio.

"Bentley, what happened?" asked Murray looking at my expression.

"I think Sly's just been attacked. I'm listening for voices," I whispered.

There was nothing for a few seconds, then I heard someone.

"... it's Sly Cooper alright. Scope the area, his team mates can't be too far."

I turned to Murray comprehending what I had just heard.

"There coming for us," I whispered.

Before anything else was said, a cheetah appeared behind Murray. The hippo was smacked in the back of the head and collapsed to the floor.

I subconsiously pulled out my crossbow and fired.

The fast cat succumbed to the effects. I wasted no time and kicked him into a ditch in the woods.

_"Ronaldo, this is Tyler. Once you've finished scoping out the area meet us at the top of the tower."_

The source of the noise came from Ronaldo's jacket.

I took one look at Ronaldo and noticed he had a parachute on. I decided to take it, seeing as though I was dealing with terrorists at the top of a tower.

Great. What were my options?

Wait for Sly and Murray to wake up?

Or take them on by myself?

I thought of Rob and how I ran away when the movement threatened me.

For once Sly and Murray would be taking a backseat.

When I arrived at the entrance of the Eiffel Tower, I was unsuprised to find the front entrance forced.

Understandably I took the elevator instead of the stairs.

In the distance I could see buildings on fire and sirens glaring from each end of the city. The movement had left a big mark and were about to deal their biggest.

I strapped Ronaldo's parachute on and double checked to make sure it was safe.

The elevators opened. I moved quickly, the place was empty so I moved up a small flight of stairs, running into Rob, Valentine, Ryan and Tyler.

Ryan was closest and (with some regret) I sedated him.

"Somehow I knew you were the reason why everybody was going missing," Tyler spoke up, smirking at me, "but it doesn't matter. I have enough charges set anyway." He turned to Rob who seemed to be in a trance like state, "take care of him, then we'll go downstairs and set the base charges."

Valetnine stared long and hard at Ryan's passed out body, "you're outnumbered," he spoke to Tyler determined, " and Bentley has a weapon he nodded at my crossbow, "you're going to far with this attack. Someone needs to stop you."

Tyler just laughed and took one look at my crossbow. He got behind Rob who was slouching with his head down like he was asleep.

"Go on, take a shot," Tyler taunted me, "just be careful not to take Robbie's eye out."

I felt my legs tremble at the thought and lowered my weapon almost straight away.

"Take care of these two idiots," Tyler spoke to Rob firmly and the latter responded like a robot. To my eternal horror he grabbed his Valentine by the neck and held him briefly in the air for a few seconds. Valentine took one final look at his lifelong friend's dormant eyes before having his neck brutally snapped.

I was too shocked to move.

Tyler had set off a small floor charge, (which nevertheless had created a gaping hole) with a good nine hundred foot drop.

Rob dropped the lifeless raccoon and began staggering towards me like a zombie.

Thinking desperately I clapped my hands, much like Tyler had done when he hypnotised people.

Rob stopped to my relief.

"He's tricking you," I told him.

Tyler clapped his hands.

"Take care of your brother," the fox commanded.

We both began clapping repeatedly when Rob collapsed to the floor like he was having a violent seizure.

"Ahh," Tyler cleared his throat, "I forgot to mention the form of hypnotism i'm using is not to be repeated excessively as it can cause major brain damage."

I gulped but then Rob got on his feet.

"Rob," I whispered, "you okay?"

He started to chuckle, slowly at first and then it began to get worse. The laughing got louder more manically until he appeared he couldn't stop and I realised he had finally lost his sanity. He went to punch Tyler and snatched the demolition switch off him.

"Rob, put that down," Tyler sounded scared for once.

My brother took one look at me through hazy eyes. Silence fell over all of us and the open hole sent a strong draft through; it was only metres behind me.

"Why Bentley?" Rob asked suddenly.

"What?" I asked confused, "look Rob, give me the demolition switch. You need psychiatric help."

I saw the rage build in his eyes. "No! Why were you always Dad's favourite?!" he yelled, "it always used to upset me. It always has," he began to break down into incoherent rants.

My lower lip began to quiver, "just let me help you Rob. I don't want to hurt you."

Then several things happened at once:

Rob began to yell "lies" over and over.

He clicked the demolition switch.

The ground beneath me collapsed and we began to freefall. I couldn't see, only the sound of rushing wind hit my ears.

I reached blindly to pull the chute.

My landing was met with a quick thud and alot of darkness.

I awoke in the safehouse and with a strange feeling of De Ja Vu I went downstairs to meet Sly and Murray in the living room.

The two of them breathed sighs of relief as I appeared in the hallway.

"Bentley, you did it! You stopped the terrorists!" Sly yelled laughing.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well I woke up. You were gone and I found Sly at the base of the tower. I carried him back to the van and then out of nowhere a massive explosion went off at the top of the tower," Murray explained.

"That was the terrorists," I said, a cold sinking feeling entering my system; despair.

"None of them made the fall," Sly added quietly.

"And you two found me and got us all out of there," I said quickly.

They nodded.

There was no chance Rob had survived that drop. No way.

My mother was gone. Had father had shown his true colours. My uncle had vanished. James and Michael were psychos, and now Rob...

"Bentley?" Sly asked gently looking at my morbid expression.

I needed help.

Serious mental help.

_**Finally the Rob sage is over with. Only a few more chapters before the events of Sly 2 will take place. **_

_**Also, this story finally hit the big 40. Most authors have probably beaten this, but it's still new to me.**_

_**Thankyou for reading my story.**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 14**

**Ballroom Blitz**

_The inspiration for this chapter comes from a quote of Murray's from Sly 2 about a job in Istanbul. _

_Enjoy._

The taxi skidded on the ice as it parked outside the Lady Diana's Hotel. After handing the driver his fare I helped Sly and Murray carry our things into the main lobby and then went to go collect our room key.

Our room was medium sized with a view of the street.

"Just to clear things up are we here on vacation or do we have a job?" Sly asked.

I pulled out my projector to answer his question and began setting it up.

"Okay guys, gather round," I announced turning power point on.

I took a deep breath. "Although you probably don't know a huge charity event is taking place in the cathedral opposite this hotel in just a few days. We're planning to make off with the donations..."

"I'm not stealing from charity," Sly interrputed.

"Let me explain," I said patiently, "what the guests don't know is the host, Augustus Shiza intends to rob off with all the donations for himself. You guys understand now?"

"I take it we're crashing the ball?" Sly asked rhetorically.

"I've already got us invitations. We have two days to get some recon work done," I added.

"How are we going to do that?" Murray asked.

"It's simple, i've got us all jobs to help set up the ball. We start work in an hour," I announced.

The two of them didn't even bother asking how I had arranged it. I found my smallest backpack and unzipped it pulling out cameras.

"We're going set these up everywhere, then find a weakness in the security. Once we have a plan we can make off with the money on the night and actually donate it to chairty," I said, turning the projector off.

**...**

"Hey raccoon! Quit slacking, your break's over!" our new boss shouted at Sly across the lunch room.

"Sir yes sir!" Sly shouted sarcastically.

He came to sit down next to me.

"This is just for one day right?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," I mumbled into my coffee, "you set up all the cameras?"

"As you asked," he replied grinning.

"Hey guys!" Murray came strolling through the doors.

"Now this is the man I was telling you about," our boss had walked over with the higher ups to talk to Murray, "this hippo was built for hard labour."

I privately agreed. Murray however wasn't paying attention.

"You won't believe what some of the guys do on breaks," Murray babbled excitedly.

Sly just shrugged wanting the day to end.

"They have an RC Combat Club!" Murray cheered.

"Hooray," Sly added in a monotone.

Murray walked off, leaving me and Sly alone again.

"Look we've set up all the cameras, can we not just leave now?" Sly asked.

"I don't know," I mulled it over for a second, "it might be suspicous."

The raccoon began to beat his head against the table, "this sucks."

I checked my watch and sighed, it was going to be a long day.

**...**

Needless to say, Sly and I never returned to a second day of work. Murray however had managed to get a place in the security station for the ball and was spending most of his time at the cathederal. Things were going great.

"This place looks busier than usual," Sly said suspiciously as me and him waited for dinner.

I looked around the restuarant, "maybe some of these people are going the ball tomorrow."

"Go over the plan with me again," he asked flipping through the menu.

"What? In a crowded place?"

"Who's going to be listening?" Sly retorted, "it's so overt, it's covert."

I sighed, "first me and you will scout out the ballroom, keep an eye on who's around etc. Murray will be in work ready to help. After all the donations are in and the host is about to make off with the money, Murray will cut the power to security. Do you remember the airvent leading to the vault?"

Sly nodded.

"Good. After you take the money, we'll flee the country and donate it," I said quickly as the waiter gave us our drinks.

"Sound's perfect," Sly smiled, "what could go wrong?"

"Don't tempt fate."

**...**

"Jesus," said Sly, his teeth chattering, "Bentley your smart, why is it so snowy in January and not December?"

I ignored him, "come on, we're going to be late."

Dressed in our best tuxedos we made our way across the road towards the ballroom.

"Who are we again?" Sly asked.

"Stepbrothers, we own a very popular brand of sellotape," I replied.

He gave me a WTF kind of look.

"Sorry, best I could so on short notice."

Nonetheless we were allowed inside. Sly whistled as we entered the ballroom. The party was in full swing. Straight away I could spot several high ranking officers in Interpol. Some FBI Agents, business men.

"Ahh, Carmelita," I heard the smile in Sly's voice and noticed her from across the room.

"Sly stay focused," I hissed.

I gulped, there was one thing I overlooked which seemed absolutely nessercery for this heist. Dancing.

"May I have this dance?" Sly asked, holding out his hand to me.

I cringed, then realised it was my safest bet to get across the ballroom.

"You read my mind," I replied.

We got some strange looks as we walked on the dance floor but it didn't matter.

"Barkley's just given Carmelita a job to do," Sly mumbled in my ear as we dance lazily across the room.

_"Guys? Just thought you'd like to know. We've got ten minutes before they empty out the vault," _Murray's voice crackled through my earpiece.

I looked up at Sly who was smirking at someone behind me. I spun round only to find Inspector Fox staring at the two of us.

In my panic I waved at her awkwardly as if we were old friends. She frowned and made her way over to us.

"What do we do!" I nearly yelled as she got closer.

"I don't know," Sly laughed, "do whatever you like, but I haven't seen her in a while."

He marched towards her, much to the latter's shock.

"Don't think I can't see right through your mask," she hissed to him, "give me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you right now."

"Because there's something much more sinister going on," Sly answered in an oddily casualy voice.

_"Sly, you've only got about 8 and a half minutes, i'll create a distraction for Inspector Fox," _I said hoping he still had his headset on.

_"Murray get ready to turn the power off to the vault, i'll tell you when" _I whispered, pulling small firecrackers out of my inside pockets.

I placed them near the buffee and got at a safe distance.

Screams erupted as the punch bowl started to crackle.

_"Now,"_ I said to both of them.

I watched as Sly ran off the second Inspector Fox turned her back on him. I couldn't help but laugh and turned round to go get a drink only to stop dead in my tracks.

"Good evening Master Wiseturtle," the posh british penguin from my childhood spoke casually.

"Guatier?" I looked around suspicously, "what's going on?"

"What's going on? Well (correct me if i'm wrong) but I believe this is called a charity event. Here's a better question, what are you doing here?"

"Donating to charity." That was half the truth.

"Ah, your father would be so proud."

"Why do I doubt that?" I replied.

To this he smirked.

_"Bentley, we've got a problem. I cut the power but the guards are onto us, Sly doesn't have a lot of time." _Murray's voice was frantic.

Ignoring Gautier I whispered to Sly, "hurry up."

"So why did you decide to run into me here?" I asked him quickly.

"Don't be so vain," he replied shortly, "you think I travelled halfway across the world to speak to you? The fact we've ran into each other is mere coincidence."

"Lucky me," I grumbled.

"However, while i'm here, I do have some news you'd probably like to know."

"Oh yeah? And what's that."

He leaned closer to me, "James is trying to start his own business. The Empire 2.0 as I like to call them. Inferior to your father's in every respect," he spoke with a tone of pride.

Before I could ask anymore questions the alarm went off.

The guards began making their way through the crowd towards the vault. When I turned back round Guatier was gone.

"Sly, what's your status?" I asked quickly.

_"I'm still in the vault," _he whispered.

**"**_**Please don't be startled," **_I heard Murray's voice bellow out of the tannoy drowning out the music, _**"Just a false alarm."**_

The guards stopped in their tracks.

_"Nicely done Murray," _I whispered into my headset.

_"Guys i'm done," _Sly sounded like he was running, _"i'll meet you in the hotel's parking lot."_

**...**

Murray sped down the highway as I was trying to take in what had happened. Should I be afraid? If James had started his own business, does this mean he's given up trying to hunt me down? I scratched my head, there's no point dwelling on something I know little about.

"Where do we plan on donating?" Sly asked from the front.

I smiled as one place came to mind...

One flight travel and four hours of driving later. We stopped on the long winding country lane and took one look at the old orphanage. They had repaired it since the fire but it was still in need of major repairs. Good thing we were here.

"I'll do this guys," I said, climbing out of the van with a briefcase in hand.

I approached the wooden doors and rested the briefcase next to it. Inside was enough to fund the Orphanage for a good few years. A couple of posters caught my eyes to the right and I examined closer.

They were missing photos, of me, Sly and Murray. I stared at them for a second and realised it had been two years since we had ran away from here. I pocketed the posters and was about to make my way back to the van when a newspaper caught my eye.

_**Clockwerk Parts to be transferred to museum in Kairo.**_

The headline was enough to be concerning, I grabbed it and bolted back to the van to show the guys the article. If only we knew what lay in store for us in the coming months.

_**Okay I lied.**_

_**Sly 2 is next.**_

_**There was orignally going to be several filler chapters, but there all so irrelevent and trivial they'd be better off as One-Shots.**_

_**Since the last attempt at tackling the first game went poorly, i'm not too sure how this one is going to go. Maybe I should skip it all together, minus a few key parts, but i'm still in debate.**_

_**Nonetheless, thankyou for reading story :)**_

_**Until next time.**_


	15. Chapter 15

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 15**

_Just like Chapters 5 - 10 this will be dated so the audience can keep up. Plus it'll pretty much sum up Sly 2 and the aftermath._

_Also note slight swearing here and there (mainly during the hospital part)._

_I know some people don't care but I also know some don't like profanity so heads up._

**Nothing Lasts Forever**

_**February 1999**_

_**India**_

I trudged through the dense jungle nervously, my machette shaking in my hands.

Where could the Contessa have taken Sly and Murray?

I jumped at the sound of movement in the distance. There was no denying I was terrified. I could either go round in circles for days and eventually die from starvation or Interpol could find me.

I sighed and sat down on a nearby rock to gather my thoughts.

I'd have to hack Interpol's datebase and find out where they'd locked up Sly and Murray.

My train of thought stopped abruptly as I heard a twig snap just a few metres behind me. Could it be the Contessa's guards? No, i'd last seen them hours ago.

I froze up. I could hear footsteps getting closer. A shadow appeared. I couldn't get my arms or legs to move and then I spotted him.

His asylum jacket was more bloodstained and dirtier than ever. His eyes were still black and soulless. Before I could comprehend what was happening, I was running, as far away from him as possible.

How did he find me? I must be at least a hundred miles from any village or town. I shuddered, was he stalking me?

Regardless I kept running, faster than I knew I could. Not looking back at my deranged brother.

After god knows how long I came across a sight for sore eyes.

The Team Van was still hidden behind plantation.

Not wanting to waste another second incase Michael caught up I began pulling the branches and leaves of the window screen. When I did I noticed a picture wedged between the window wipers.

I stared at it in disbelief; it was my family before I was born. My mother and father weren't even acknowledging each other, Michael must of already been sent to the asylum at this point. James was sat in my father's lap looking pampered and happy. My mother had made sure Rob wasn't ignored and was cuddling him in the photo, both Rob and James were only toddlers.

I took one last look at my mother's smiling face and scrunched it up. My resolve was hardened. This was the true test of friendship. I was going to save my friends. I paused for a second and gulped at the steering controls in the van.

But first things first, I'd have to learn how to drive a stickshift...

It can't be that difficult. I'll probably have to jump and press the circle button.

_**March 1999**_

_**Canada**_

"Sly! It's- it's awful! I can't believe it!" I yelled looking at Murray's binocucom.

"Slow down Bentley, what happened?" Sly asked over the binocucom.

"Murray, he went out looking for a snack and got captured by Inspector Fox!"

"Carmelita?" he sounded shocked, "she's here? Don't worry Bentley I know how to handle her."

"But.. I don't know where she's locked up Murray! I'm used to having all the facts!" I babbled.

"Calm down," he tried to reassure me, "Carmelita's not cruel like the Contessa. I'll follow her without being seen, she's bound to check on Murray sooner or later."

"Ok that's," I thought about it for a second, "that's a good plan. Just don't get caught too. I don't want to be alone again."

Sly turned off his binocucom. He was right, Carmelita's nothing like the Contessa. Plus she's on the run from Interpol herself, which means she'll have hardly any backup or resources.

I receded back to my computer chair and went onto Thief Net.

Recently i'd acquired a jetpack of a client of mine. However the product turned out to be faulty. At first I assumed it was a mistake, however he originally had no intention of letting me refund it. So I retaliated. It took a few short moments and I had his bank account in the palm of my hand. Now i'm getting a new one for free. Lucky me.

I signed in and the first thing I noticed was an inbox on my notifications. Curious I clicked on it and nothing could prepare me for what it said.

_"The Real Heir,_

_I want the Empire's fortune, it belongs to me. The fact your still alive is mere luck and make no mistake if you fail to make a public appearence and hand me the money then you and your little friends will meet a most painful death."_

Ofcourse (being the Cooper Gang) we were used to death threats, but this was different. Not only did this person know about the Empire but also their name. James didn't need to tell me it was him, that much was obvious, but how did he find me online?

He still wanted 'his' fortune and most likely my head on a platter.

I felt hunted, scared and strangely vulnerable.

_**April 1999**_

_**The Skies of Paris**_

If someone had told me a few months back that I would be sneaking onboard a gigantic air fortress and saving Paris from a foreign drug and a giant mechanic owl, I would've of laughed in their face. Alas, this is reality. Albeit a very strange reality. Almost like we were in a video game.

"Bentley, what do you think our next great adventure will be?" Murray asked me.

"A long ass vacation and an early retirement. Why do you ask?" I replied.

"Oh. When do you think Sly will be done with that experimental jump pack thing?"

"Why? You wanna go?"

To that comment his eyes lit up.

At that point I noticed a radio signal pick up on my computer.

"Sly must be finished. Carmelita's already picked up on our signal," I announced.

_"Won't be too long now for our 'showdown' with Clock-La," _I heard Sly's voice on the binocucom. Apparently he was eavesdropping.

Nonetheless we felt a collective shudder. A tense silence.

"Don't worry Bentley. If Sly and Carmelita can't handle her, then the Murray will just have to thunder flop her."

"Murray?"

"What is it brainiac chum?"

"Thankyou for defusing the tension."

**(A/N - The Sly 2 part is over, sorry for anyone who was disappointed, although I highly doubt you want me to tell you the plot to Sly 2. The rest of the chapter doesn't need dating or anything, it goes at a fairly slow pace)**

I had been lying inside the hospital bed for about half an hour now and still no one had come. The room was empty, there were security cameras in each corner of the room and a deadbolt on the door. For some strange reason I couldn't feel my legs. Maybe they had me on an anesthetic.

They would defnitely have to do some major surgery on my legs. Never felt pain like Clock-La's beak closing on me, but at least she's out of the way.

The door opened and several nurses walked in.

"I really don't see why we have to look after this criminal," a nurse complained loudly.

"For all we know he could be dangerous," another added.

"Oh yeah, i'm a violent raging psychopath, armed from head to shell, you all best watch your backs," I added sarcastically, although I think half of them took me seriously judging by their reactions.

"Does he even deserve our help?"

"Enough!" barked a bespectcaled, disgruntled greyhound and they all fell silent at once.

"Leave, while I talk to our patient."

They all walked out (why did they even bother coming in the first place?) and it was just me and this greyhound. He sat down on the bed a few inches away from my feet and gave me a smile like everything was going to be okay.

"What's your name son?" he asked lightly.

"Bentley," I replied honestly.

"Last name?"

"Just Bentley," I said firmly.

I looked at the cameras for a brief second and wondered if any officers from Interpol were watching.

"Okay," he whispered, "age?"

"Twenty."

"Okay."

"Why are my legs numb?" I asked quickly.

He gave me the most sympathetic look i'd ever seen, "i'm sorry Bentley. I'm afraid you've been paralysed below the waist. There's nothing we can do."

He moved closer but I didn't react. I couldn't think or talk as the words sunk in. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You can still live a very fulfilling life, many before you have proven it. Would you like me to leave you alone for a while?" he added seeing my eyes well up with tears.

He didn't need an answer.

"Don't worry son, it's going to be alright," was all he said.

"No, you're- you're lying aren't you? This is some kind of sick joke right? RIGHT?!"

"I'm sorry," was all he said before leaving.

And there I was. Alone, crying in despair.

_Paralysed below the waist._

The outside world seemed to die down as the thoughts penetrated my mind.

I couldn't walk ever again.

I could never have any children.

Never be a father.

Why?

Why did this happen to me?

...

The nurses and doctors had left me alone for a while.

Good.

And where were Sly and Murray? Those bastards have probably already forgotten about me. Hell, i'm the only family they have. Like they even deserve any.

I snapped out of my rage.

_Never think about them like that again ever _I told myself sternly.

I was angry. But that did not justify me thinking that, it's not their fault i'm here.

They might not even be alive if James has found them. My stomach dropped at the thought. I clapsed my face in my hands. Can someone _please _give my life a fucking break?!

I grabbed the nearest object I could find (a lamp) and launched it at the wall, regretting it seconds later as I was stuck in the pitch black.

...

After a few days I slowly started to come to terms with my accident. I came to respect Dr. Fredericks (the greyhound) for being brave enough to tell me to my face I would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I don't think I could tell someone that, especially not like he did.

And then one afternoon I had two unexpected visitors.

"Inspector Fox," I greeted her awkwardly. A male officer was in tow.

"How are you?" she asked. I doubt she even knew my name.

"Just peachy," I replied in a monotone, "I take it your here to personally escort me to jail?"

She allowed herself a small smile, "as much as i'd love too, and probably will, you've still got a day left in here Bentley."

Oops, I stand corrected.

"Then why are you here?"

She cleared her throat. "The higher ups already want a case being built, seeing as though we finally have a member of the Cooper Gang in custody. So i'm going to have to ask you a few questions."

A few questions meant virtually my life since I became a criminal and every single heist we pulled, not that I would mention every single one to her or anything about my family.

It was more fun that I expected, mainly because her lackey became more and more in awe as I told them both story after story of us stealing from criminals and helping the public out. He even started asking pointless questions until a glare from Carmelita shut him up permeantly.

"Also, what happened to Cooper the night-" she stopped herself and stared at my legs, trying to find the right words, but I understood what she was talking about.

Still...

"I have no idea," I lied, supressing a small smirk, tempted to share it with the lackey whom I had grown fond of.

She gave me a hard stare but it was pointless seeing as though i'm always wearing thick glasses that cover my eyes.

"Cooper somehow incapacitated both of my pilots, fixed the chopper to fly around in circles and then escaped," she said and I wondered how close she was to snapping.

"I passed out, remember?"

That was partially true. I did come round long enough to tell Murray to go back, KO the pilots and fix the chopper to fly around constantly.

She paused and nodded slowly, "thankyou Bentley for your time. We have quite the case on your gang now."

"Yeah but their hardly as bad as the media makes them out to be," the other officer blurted out before he could stop himself.

"I agree," said Carmelita and I wouldn't of believed her had I not seen her lips move. "In any case your trial with prove the Cooper Gang don't harm the public.

"No," I said quickly. They both gave me confused looks.

"The reason we don't correct the media is it makes other criminals fear us," I explained, "there's plenty of crime lords that want Sly dead. They'll cotton on pretty quick and threaten the lives of innocents to draw us out."

She looked at me for a second as if considering it so I pressed on.

"By all means, label us as internationally wanted nazi terrorists or whatever. Just don't make my case public."

Carmelita sighed, "you and Cooper are without a doubt the biggest nutcases i've ever encountered."

"Yet still he evades you," I replied smiling.

"For now," she said a small smirk appearing.

...

Later that night Dr Fredericks returned, explaining to me he still needed to do one last operation on me before tomorrow.

"Which means i'll need to give you a dose of morphine," he said.

I tried to act indifferent about it but the only times my subconsious wasn't eating away at me was when I felt like I was on cloud nine. Eternal bliss.

The rest of the procedure was a blur. One moment I was staring at the ceiling smiling softly to myself, the next it was 3 in the morning and I was alone, still slightly drugged.

Then several screams filled the corrider. I watched as a nurse ran past my room terrified.

What's going on now?

I got my answer. Someone was trying to force the door in. Well I wish them luck; the doctor's had told me the door was close to impossible to force, probably their subtle way of telling me I can't break it down.

But whoever's on the other side door just did. The effects of the morphine impaired my eyesight making it hard to notice who it was. Then he walked in.

I groaned, "seriously, following me round every single waking moment is not going to benefit you in anyway," I told Michael angrily, forgetting he was a mute.

As expected he just stared at me. If it wasn't for the morphine i'd be probably be cowering right now. However as quick as he came he left. Only leaving a photo behind with something written on the back.

I picked the photo up. It was a picture of James. Why had he sent me this picture?

Does he plan on becoming a photographer now?

I read what was on the back:

_"He's after you."_

No shit sherlock.

I finally fell asleep.

The next day I awoke to find two detectives in my room.

"Ahh, he's awake," a badger said.

"We've watched the cameras, why did that man leave you this picture?" the other (a squirrel) asked me.

"No idea," I lied, "maybe he's planning on becoming a photographer."

"Wait a minute sir!" the badger said holding the photo, "I know who this is."

I gulped.

"And he knows who he is aswell," he added nodding at me.

He walked straight up to me.

"The man on this photo is also a member of the Cooper Gang. Intel says he's called Murray."

I mentally sighed.

"Well, well, well," I said getting their attention again, "you've figured out my master plan..."

In the end I stopped messing with them and told them the photo must be a joke; why would my own teammate be after me? Since the only thing Michael had done was break in and beat up a few security guards, no one really took it that seriously. Only security got a lot tighter.

I wondered why Michael had warned me about James. Even though it was clearly obvious the guy hated me.

"Time for your sponge bath," a nurse said to me.

"Let's just get this over with," I mumbled.

...

After a thorough scrubbing of my anatomy, the nurses left me alone. Apparently I had just a few hours before the authorities would take me to a top security prison. I'm just hoping it's not the Contessa's old place.

Two doctors walked in.

"I've already had my sponge bath for the door. Please inform the other staff I won't be needing another," I told them.

"Well that's a relief," said a voice I hadn't heard in weeks.

"Sly! Murray! How did you-?"

"No time to explain partner. We've got to get you out of here before-"

Murray cut him off, "you okay Bentley?" he asked gently, looking like he was going to cry.

"I'm sorry Sly, but I can't. The two of you are better off without me. I'll only get all three of us apprehended the next time-"

"Bentley, you're the only person that can keep us out of prison," Sly butted in.

"Really?"

"Are you kidding? Murray and I tried to hit a museum in Italy last week-"

"Italy? Why..."

"There's a map, Bentley , a map that leads to my family fortune. no time to explain here. In any event the job was a complete disaster," Sly answered.

"The Murray blames himself," the hippo added, staring down at his feet.

"Now, we were lucky enough to improvise a last-minute plan to get us the map, but it should never have come to that. You're out eyes, our ears, our brains! We really need your help, pal. All for one and one for all, Bentley. That's the only way this works."

"Gosh, Sly- I... we'll need to brainstorm a new method for me to get around in the field but ...okay! Count me in!"

They both smiled and I felt the happiest I had felt in weeks, unfortunately we all fell silent as multple voices were getting louder.

"Uh.. Sly? Maybe you shoulda left your disguise on?" said Murray.

At that several police officers broke the door down.

"Up against the wall, Cooper!," one shouted, "you too, lady!," he said addressing Murray, "keep those hands where I can see them... or else!"

"Don't worry baby... I like a girl from the wrong side of the tracks," another added.

Sly started whispering, "Okay, Murray. On the count of three, I want you to grab-"

"No. Not this time, Sly..." Murray cut him off, "when I make my move, get Bentley out of here."

He only gave us a few seconds charging like a madmen, "go Sly!"

"Ahh! She's a dude. How disturbing."

Sly grabbed me in his arms and made for the window.

"Sly! We can't just leave him here, it's unconscionable!" I yelled.

"One thing at a time. First, i'll get you to safety. Then i'll come back to spring Murray."

I looked back at the carnage unfolding.

"He's too strong," an officer shouted to his walkie talkie, "we need backup!"

Murray looked back at us, "get out of here Sly. Go!" he shouted.

And with that we were gone.

...

When we got back to the safehouse Sly left immediately to go get me a wheelchair.

I began making the blueprints for my new wheelchair. It's simple really. I'll turn my greatest weakness into my greatest advantage!

Eventually Sly returned.

"Let's get to work!" I said brightly.

...

"Bentley, you're a genius!" Sly said for the umpteenth time, "the modifications you've made to that wheelchair are incredibly powerful."

"Yes the upgrades should me well in the field. Blasters, mines all the standard fare. And with this new hover pack I should be able to acsess any building no matter how high I have to fly."

"Great once Murray get's back we can order a pizza and plan out our new heist. This map say's the vault's on an island not too far away from Hawai."

As if on cue, Murray's walked in. The first thing I noticed was he had his gear in his hands.

"Maybe we can get a little R&R in before heading over," Sly added, "hey Murray, check it out! Bentley's got himself all ready to go!"

The hippo took one look at my wheelchair and gulped.

"Guys, i've been doing a lot of thinking. I can't get over feeling for all bad things happening to us lately. I'm afraid that my lack of ability puts both of you at risk, and maybe next time we won't be so lucky."

"But Murray, we're a team. All for one and-" I started saying.

"I know, all for one and one for all. Not one who put's his friend's lives in danger!"

He went into his room and came back a few minutes later, duffle bag in hand.

"I'm sorry guys... I've thought this through and it's best that I left the team. You're better off without me," he made his way to the door.

"Don't leave," I said, "it's not your fault i'm in a wheelchair. We need you. We need the Murray in our lives."

He looked back at us for a fleeting second, "the Murray's dead."

With that he was gone.

...

I awoke the next morning wondering why I felt so miserable. Then it hit me. I got into my wheelchair and made my way inside Murray's room. There was nothing there of his, it felt like he had died.

I hovered downstairs and saw Sly eating his ceral quietly.

"Hey Bentley," he sounded as depressed as I felt.

"Hey Sly," I replied in the same morbid tone.

"How are you?"

"I'm-" I couldn't bring myself to say fine. This was all too much. I felt like crying.

But then suddenly Sly was hugging me.

"Sly?"

"Don't say a word. I know exactly how you feel."

I shut up.

"Look Bentley, I know this may sound horrifying considering Murray just left, but I need to do something to keep my mind occupied. So i'm heading out to Kaine Island to do some recon on what we'll need for the Cooper Vault Job."

I paused for second, "that's fine. If it means clearing your head then do it. I'll start searching for Murray online, we need to get him back."

He gave a geniune smile. "I'm gonna go pack."

...

A few days later after Sly had left I was busy on searching for even a trace of Murray. So far no luck.

I'd also managed my own pickpocket pole , or the PPP for short. Don't be too impressed, it's really just a fishing hook with a magnet.

Then someone popped up on Thief Net chat.

_The Real Heir: "Do you have my money?"_

_SpexGuy22: "Why would I give you anything?"_

_The Real Heir: "Because if you don't your friend Murray is having his neck sliced open."_

I froze up. Did he have Murray?

_SpexGuy22: "Don't you fucking touch him"_

_The Real Heir: "Ha, calm down bitch. He's not even aware we're following him, here's a picture for your doubts."_

He was telling the truth, James was posing in the picture at a restuarant giving me a sarcastic thumbs up and Murray could clearly be seen in the background ordering food.

_SpexGuy22: "You want the fortune right? Touch him and it's gone."_

_The Real Heir: "You're in no position to be calling the shots."_

_SpexGuy22: "Where do you want to meet?"_

_The Real Heir: "You'll take the train from Paris to Strausburg. From there my friends will escort you to the United Nation's building, where you'll hand me daddy's credit card and then go crawl back under your rock."_

_SpexGuy22: "Why the UN Building?"_

_The Real Heir: "Turn on Channel Five."_

I reached for the remote and switched on channel five. When I did I was very confused.

_SpexGuy22: "Why do you want me to watch Desperate Housewives?"_

_The Real Heir: "Wrong Channel. Turn to channel four."_

I did and couldn't believe what I was seeing.

_"According to inside sources at the UN Building, the legendary Empire have made a reappearence. A Wiseturtle (confirmed through DNA) is now leading the business. He claims to have an investor willing to hand over his fortune to bring the company back into the real world." _a woman on the TV approached (to my horror) James himself, who had discarded his deformed shell and replaced it with a tuxedo.

It obviously wasn't live.

"Mr Wiseturtle, a pleasure to have you here," she greeted him.

"Not at all," he replied with a smile that did not suit him.

"Who's this mysterious investor?" she asked him innocently.

"Ahh, well he'd like to remain annomyous, scared of being interviewed, bless his heart, but I can say this, we have quite the er- past and i'll have to show him my gratitude when he gets here," James replied still wearing that hideous smile.

I turned the telly off and wheeled myself back to the laptop.

_SpexGuy22: "You're insane."_

_The Real Heir: "And you're a dead man walking. What's your point? I'll see you in a few days."_

And with that he was offline.

I just stared at the screen blankly.

Oh crap.

_**And that is that ladies and gentlemen!**_

_**The next chapter is probably going to take a while to write up, considering how much gones on in it, but it will be fun.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed.**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 16**

_How I wish I could live in America so I could play Sly 4 earlier. Living in Europe has its flaws._

_Regardless of what happens in it, this story has nothing to do it with it, since I would most likely run into a few plot holes along the way._

_Also this chapter involves a meeting with the United Nations. I could be realistic and have them all speak their respective languages but then that would just confuse everyone, so it's all in English__._

_Speaking of realism, I don't know how the United Nation's meetings work so most of it will probably be false or inaccurate. Alas, the plot must go on._

**A Matter of Life and Death**

Not wasting a second I headed to my bedroom and packed the essentials; my crossbow, bombs, all the field equipment and finished off the last touches on my wheelchair.

Sly was probably in Hawaii by now. Murray was... well gone and I was left alone to face James.

At that point I heard the door break down.

"He must be in here somewhere," I heard a man's voice.

"What did the boss say?" asked another.

"It's much easier to kill him and take the credit card. Even if he escapes us he'll still go to James, he's not going to let his friend die," the first voice replied.

I tossed a trigger bomb which landed on my bedroom door and rolled up against the wall then pressed a button on my wheelchair bringing the crossbow up.

"Come out little Wiseturtle," I heard one of them jeer.

"What if Cooper's here?" the second man asked nervously.

"Two birds one stone," the first answered, "James won't want that ass hat around after he's taken over."

The handle turned and I pressed the trigger sending the first thug flying into the wall. The second swooped round the corner, gun in hand, but was sedated in the blink of an eye.

I dumped the thugs outside and secured the safe house.

...

Using my new booster pack on the wheelchair I raced towards the train station. Passersby gave me strange looks as I zoomed past, but that didn't matter. Murray's death would not rest on my shoulders. It's my fault he's in this situation.

I arrived at midnight at the Gare de l'Est train station.

"One ticket to Strasburg please," I said to the startled conductor who had watched me race towards the moving train and jump on board via awesome wheelchair.

He lost his shocked expression and adopted a more professional manner.

"One way ticket or return?"

I debated for a second. The conductor had no idea what was going on in my head.

"I might be returning," I thought out loud, "yeah a return one please."

May as well be a little optimistic.

I paid him and pocketed the ticket in my shell.

"So err- you like a genius inventor or something?" he asked staring at my wheelchair.

"I guess so," I replied absent-mindedly pulling out my laptop from the bag pack I bought.

He disappeared into the next carriage and I went onto Thief Net spotting another inbox from James.

_"How are you getting to Strasburg my favourite little investor?"_

I replied shortly with _"train"._

He'd most likely have people waiting for me at every station now.

I sighed in true resignation.

He had won.

There was no way out of this. I doubt he'd let me live. Tying up loose ends was probably on his mind.

I would just hand him the fortune and die like a good obedient little boy.

Otherwise Murray would die.

...

After a well-deserved sleep, I heard a man's voice over the Train's speakers.

_**"Next stop Strasburg Station!" **_

I got off, keeping a look out for any shady thugs or even James.

Then a sudden thought hit me; none of them knew I had been confined to a wheelchair. Then I realised it didn't matter, if they couldn't find me they'd assume I got cold feet at the last second and then kill Murray.

Hopefully they would see me.

"That's him," I heard a gorilla to my left say and recognised his face immediately.

He had worked for my dad but had betrayed him for a better position with James. From what I could remember as a child he was actually nice or at least nice in comparison to the rest of them.

He was flanked by a dozen men all dressed in spotless black tuxedos.

"The boss never said he was a cripple Quinton," added another as they approached me.

"It doesn't matter what condition he's in," the gorilla called Quinton said approaching me.

"You remember me don't you?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"Don't worry about your life. I've been trying to convince James to just take the money and let you go. All we really want is the wealth and power your dad denied us."

This did very little to easy my psyche.

Then I remembered I had made a plan last night.

"I want in on the Empire," I forced myself to speak.

There was a moment's silence before the well-dressed thugs started laughing.

Quinton chuckled awkwardly, "er- I don't think James would allow it. He hates you, you know."

"Yeah thanks, I'd figured that out myself," I replied coldly, "but if you lot or him don't play ball then the credit cards as good as gone."

The smirks on their faces dropped. I doubt any of them wanted to displease that raging psychopath.

"You wouldn't dare," said a rooster I remembered from somewhere, "or your hippo friend dies."

I gave a fake harsh laugh, "why do you think he's all the way in the Monaco and 'Cooper' is nowhere to be seen? The gang and I split up ages ago."

I paused for a second to watch their reactions. Some were panicking, others were looking sceptical.

"If you don't care about him why did you show up?" a mole asked me, smirking again.

"Like I said, I want in on the Empire," I replied casually.

They exchanged glances and looked to Quinton.

"Alright we'll take him to James, but we'll need to be quick the meetings starting in half an hour. He'll need the fortune to back up his plan."

The next thing I knew they were lifting me by my wheelchair and hoisting me inside the back of a van.

"Someone will have to hold his wheelchair still. We don't want him banging around in the back," the driver noted.

…

We arrived at the United Nations building in less than twenty minutes.

"How we getting Mr Cripple inside?" the rooster asked, nodding at me.

"We'll tell them he's our investor. This is actually pretty convenient he's come along, the nation's leaders have been expressing doubts over our 'investor', and well here he is" a weasel replied in a heavy French accent.

I was escorted inside by them.

"Empire employees?" a guard asked at the lobby stopping us.

"That's right," Quinton replied.

"He doesn't have any ID," the guard pointed at me

"Here's our financial backer," the rooster added.

The guard frowned.

"I have travelled along way to get here and sort this business out. How dare you stop me at such an important time," I spoke in an uppity posh tone, "speak down at me again and I have shall you fired. Do you understand me?"

The thugs flanking me showed nothing but shock.

I heard Quinton mutter, "maybe he did take after his dad."

"S-sorry sir," the guard spluttered, "of course I understand- lack of ID doesn't matter- yes, please go on," he ended his incoherent mumble.

They really shouldn't hire guards like that at a UN Building.

We rounded the corner and some of the thugs actually laughed.

"Hurry," Quinton ordered, "the meetings a few minutes away and we still need to explain him," he indicated at me.

The gorilla pushed open a pair of double doors and I came face to face with the man who had traumatised my life.

"What's he doing here?" James asked in a soft tone.

You could tell he was livid. Most of the thugs backed off and began mumbling.

"He wants in on the Empire," Quinton replied in a clear voice over the mumbling.

James went quiet for a moment as if considering this.

"I've already decided you can live," he said to me, "how dare you ask for more."

"He says if you don't 'play ball' the credit cards as good as destroyed," Quinton added.

James stared straight at me, "did you forget what'll happen if you-"

"Murray's in Monaco because the gang and I parted ways. Hence why Sly's not around," I paused. The next part was risky. Murray's life was hanging on a thread, then again what was one life in comparison to millions being controlled by a psychopath. Then I realised I was too selfish to let Murray die than deal with a much bigger problem, "you can do whatever you like with him, I only came here because I want in on the Empire," I lied.

James stared me down for a few moments. He looked so much like Murray at times, it scared me.

Why couldn't I of had a peaceful life?

Or left Sly and Murray alone?

They wouldn't be in any danger right now if it wasn't for my stupid family.

I snapped out of my thoughts to see James smirking.

"You're bullshitting," he grinned even more at me, "like you'd ever want anything to do with the Empire after what happened to our mother, and you do care about those friends of yours."

Damn.

I had to take the lies up a notch.

"Care? Look what they did to me," I pointed at my legs.

At that point a well-dressed businessman entered the room.

"Mr Wiseturtle, the meeting is about to start. I hope you're ready," he spoke to James and he left without another word.

"You want the fortune or not?" I asked him rhetorically.

James straightened his tie.

"Ready boys?" he asked his men.

They all nodded. He turned to me.

"Fine, you're in. But as long as you want to be a part of this new Empire, I'm your boss," he said giving me a triumphant look.

I nodded. I still hadn't handed over the fortune. To be honest I wasn't sure when he needed it.

We were led down a long hallway leading to more double doors this time. There were many voices echoing from it. The doors opened to a giant chamber. I recognised some faces.

President Chirac of France, he seemed eager to see us. I wondered for a fleeting second whether he ever knew my dad.

The German president, Roman Herzog.

The American president, Bill Clinton.

(A/N – To anyone who thinks I must be mentally challenged – the story is set in 1999)

Leaders from all over the world had come to see the Empire's rebirth.

They watched us in silence.

James cleared his throat and walked casually onto a podium.

"Gentlemen, today is the happiest day of my life. The day the empire resurfaces and continues its quest for a New World Order."

The leaders mumbled to their respective vice presidents/chancellors.

The Russian President stood up, "the Soviet Union is more than happy with the freedom our government gives its people. There's no need-"

"For those of you questioning the possibility of a New World Order, think of the pointers. With us ruling as a single government there would be no more wars. We could support each and every country equally, eradicating poverty. There'd be much more resources available for the countries which lacked them, there'd be-"

"Still a heavy amount of corruption in each party," a vice chancellor spoke from a country I couldn't recognise, "surely giving these people complete control over the world is not a good idea."

"Your father thought the same thing," the French President spoke to James his eyes lingering on me for a second, "of course with a larger branch of government, we'd be able to stamp out the corrupt."

_Not likely _I thought.

"Speaking of William Wiseturtle," the American President stood up, "he wasn't exactly corrupt free was he? The last time our countries considered him, we ended up under his thumb giving him complete control, what makes you think we'd make the same mistake twice?"

James looked fierce.

"Our jurisdiction would reach each and every inch of the globe. There'd be no more tension between countries. How dare you all only care about your own people," James said, "no wonder humanity is collapsing under itself."

This made the chamber go extremely quiet.

"Think of it," the Spanish president spoke, "we cut down on petty immigrant taxes and create a world where the global economy could get off its knees. A world where people are free to travel from country to country without being coldly rebuffed. Clearly Mr Wiseturtle is correct, the fact you are all unwilling to co-operate peacefully with other countries is nothing more than racism!"

The recently silent chamber erupted once more.

"How dare you!"

"This is not a matter of racism!"

"Silence," James spoke and they all obliged, "I admit I'm disappointed. There are probably many leaders here today who are afraid to voice their opinion on a New World Order. Expecting this I have made a plan. At midnight tonight, the New World Order begins. I have more than enough money to pick up the pieces of my father's dream and eradicate racism, war and poverty. This my friends can only be achieved through my plan. Those of you who are brave enough to join me in my dream I applaud you, those who don't," he gave a taunt leer, "well I hope you make the right decision."

My first thought was that this had gone horribly wrong, that James had failed, but then nearly all the nation's leaders had got up to applaud him.

"At midnight tonight, we will be waiting to see how many of you join us," James spoke once again as the applause died down, "thank you."

Then a small beaver approached James from the back of the Empire's party.

"Sir we have a problem," he muttered nervously.

"What?" he snapped, returning to his cold demeanour.

"The Hippo took a plane to Sydney," he whispered though I heard every word, "the men who were supposed to keep an eye on him have been dealt with. Also your older brother had been seen lurking around here. We don't know why though."

James took one look at me, I was smiling broadly.

"You've lost," I said.

James (to my shock) returned the smile.

"Oh, have I? Ladies and Gentlemen," he bellowed, "let me set an example to the rest of you how we should deal with our corrupt colleagues before it is too late."

At this point James grabbed me by the neck.

"This turtle is the perfect example of a corrupt businessman. I hope my next example inspires you too."

At that point the Empire's members stood. They frogmarched me out of there and James stole my credit card.

"You know what's funny?" he asked me, "if you had just stayed away from us, we wouldn't even have this fortune right now."

I was dragged further from the chamber.

"I've won," said James grinning, "finally, the Empire and the New World Order is mine."

He could barely contain his excitement.

"Take him to the woods east of town," he said to his goons, "make him dig his own grave and then bury him alive."

I laughed bitterly and he turned to me.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?"

"Well done," I said, "you followed in our dad's footsteps alright. Shame he never chose you as his heir."

James smirked, "you still think your father is my father?"

I froze up. "What?"

"Why do you think I've hated him and you for all these years," he added and an out of place look of sadness etched across his face.

"What did your dad tell you when you asked why I'm half hippo, half turtle?" he asked me.

"Gene splicing," I replied.

He gave a harsh bark of laughter, "oh Bentley. How misinformed you've been of our family for all these years. Tell you what, being the merciful leader I am, I'm going to let you die knowing the truth about our family," he took a deep breath.

"The beginning," he spoke softly, "Your father and our mother met at an elite social party. Your father was of course looking for a woman who like him was wealthy and could be easily manipulated. He found her. Naturally she fell head over heels for him and after a year they had their first son Michael. It was at that point your daddy showed his true colours and began to neglect his wife and pamper his first son into becoming his heir. At this point mother had already lost her parents and most of her financial backings were under his name, plus the idea of a divorce would put a serious strain on her social status. She had no choice but to put up with him. However that didn't mean she was loyal to him no. Four years after Michael's birth she began an affair with a Mr Chuck Hippo, my real father and incidentally Murray's father."

"Wait," I interrupted, "you and Murray are half-brothers?"

"Correct, just like you and I, and of course, you and him," he added, "naturally your dad with all his power found out about her becoming pregnant with me. He demanded she have me aborted, but she fought for my life and eventually she won, with them making a cover story that I was result of gene splicing. I think only your dad, my dad, our mother, Uncle Seymour and Gautier were the only ones aware of the truth."

James took a deep breath as I just sat there shocked.

"Your dad probably had no interest in me at first, not that I could remember, however a few weeks before my second birthday Michael inexplicably murdered a maid, making him no longer the ideal heir for daddy and he turned his interest to me. Regardless of whether I was truly his son, I was his only option, he began to pamper me, treated me like his real son, Michael was of course sent to the asylum and left to be experimented on ensuring he would never leave. I won't lie I loved my first childhood years. I had everything, even after Rob's birth, your dad didn't think he had the right mind to run his Empire, no Rob was too rebellious, even at a young age. And then shortly after my eleventh birthday, you were born…"

He gave me a look of pure eternal undying loathing.

"I was tossed aside in place of you just like mother, Rob and Michael. After that any love your father had for me was gone. I was treated for the next six years to a life of neglect, constant bullying and cruelty from him. I considered suicide many times."

I saw tears well in his eyes, but he blinked a few time and continued.

"I wanted to murder him. To take his Empire and prove I was the true heir and it was a mistake for him to betray me. And then on my seventeenth birthday mother (whilst drunk) let it slip he wasn't my real dad. At that point I had a nervous breakdown, but I recovered and formulated a plan to convince the poorer members of his organisation to leave him and together we could overthrow him and take what's rightfully ours."

Somehow I don't think he recovered too well from that breakdown.

"Do you remember our family's last ever party together?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"In order to take what was mine I had to take care of both my maternal and paternal family. Unfortunately, Rob had run away earlier that day, you and uncle had gone hunting and father managed to escape my grasp. Our mother however had to go, she had waited that long to tell me that bastard wasn't my dad and allowed him to neglect me."

"You shut up about her!" I had found my voice again, "she loved you and you killed her!"

"Afterwards I continued my life's mission," he said ignoring me, "admittedly I couldn't find you, it took ten years, our Uncle was difficult to track aswell. Rob had vanished and Michael was in the asylum. So I turned to my paternal family, I tracked my father down and entered his home. Your friend Murray was there, his mother was out. I killed him and left, as easy as that."

I remembered the night I had become proper friends with Murray and he had told me a hippo murdered his father.

"No one ever truly loved me," James spoke softly, "if you hadn't been born I would of rightfully been the heir to the Empire."

Despite what he had done and was he was planning to do. I wasn't scared or angry at him, I felt sorry for him. He wasn't born a monster; he had been moulded into one by my dad. He was the real source of all my problems.

"So long Bentley," he spoke quietly.

They lifted my wheelchair and began moving me to an exit.

"Wait!" I shouted, "what happened to Uncle?"

"I killed him," he replied not turning back.

That rendered me mute.

The vast majority of my life was a lie.

Hell, why did I even care? I was going to be put out of my misery soon anyway.

The loaded me into the back of the van and we were off again.

There were four thugs in the back with me and the driver in the front. Even if I began to fight back they would easily overpower me. That and part of me didn't care anymore.

My poor Uncle, I had always held onto a small window of hope he was alive but it was shattered now. He was gone.

Our family had destroyed itself from the inside.

Then (as cliché as I felt) I knew James had to be stopped. It was like an internal driving force, telling me not to give up and that I could still live.

My new fighting spirit didn't change the fact I was surrounded and outnumbered, so I did what I always did, and that was to think and strategize and only one dangerous plan could get me out of this.

My plan was risky, I could die doing it. Wait what am I saying? I'm going to die anyway if I don't do something. I took a deep breath and braced myself.

"What are you doing?" one of them asked me staring at my crossbow, "you think you can sedate all of us?"

They laughed at me.

"No," I smiled, "just him," I nodded at the driver.

Before any of them could stop me I fired the crossbow.

The dart pierced into the drivers back and he slumped sedated.

The vehicle tumbled downhill way off the country lane and we were being tossed around like ragdolls as it rolled over and over repeatedly and then came blackness.

…

I bolted upright to find I had fallen out of my wheelchair and was lying in a field several metres where the totalled van had stopped. I crawled around looking for my wheelchair and then I heard sirens.

If the police showed up, would they listen to me?

Would they help me stop James?

What if they were already on his pay roll?

I sighed in relief as an Ambulance parked on the road closest and several paramedics came running over.

"Help!" I called out, "I can't reach my wheelchair!"

One lifted me up into his arms and the other got my chair for me.

"Thank you," I said.

"Are the others okay?" one asked me.

"I don't know," I replied strapping myself in firmly.

Before anything else could be said or done I activated my booster pack and raced down the country lane back to the city. Then another thought entered my brain?

Where would James be?

Most likely the United Nation's building.

…

I arrived there at half eleven. Only thirty more minutes.

"Who are you?" a guard asked.

"Don't worry," another guard appeared the one who I had shouted at earlier, "He's with the Empire."

"Where's James?" I asked.

"Wiseturtle? He left several hours ago," he replied.

I let out a wail, "where is he?"

"We don't know."

As quick as I arrived there I was gone.

What am I going to do now? I thought searching the city. He could be anywhere.

Then I saw it. A towering structure with a golden W emblazoned on at the top of it. The exact same Logo my father used to use.

…

I approached the building from a rooftop opposite. I pressed a button to deploy my binocucom and stared at the front entrance.

A burly jackal was guarding the door. I buckled myself into my wheelchair and hovered down into an alley and took aim at him. He succumbed to the sedative in a few short seconds and I wheeled myself over to the entrance and dragged him inside with him.

The lobby doors made a strange ringing sound when I entered.

It was strangely quiet.

Had James let his guard down thinking I was dead?

Or was he so immersed in his own victory he'd forget about security?

I shook my head, it didn't matter, I had to find him.

I hovered up the first flight of stairs to find a dark corridor, all the rooms left and right of it were locked and the rooms were pitch black.

I stopped moving as a shadow appeared at a second flight of stairs at the end of the hall; it was a rooster or a chicken. Not wasting another moment I raced towards them and ran them over, I got out my crossbow and aimed it at their face, then I realised who it was and why he was so familiar.

His name was Edgar, he was one of the wealthiest members of my dad's original Empire and a coward. He had fled to James after the original Empire was destroyed by Raphael, Sly, Murray and I.

The rooster was a quivering wreck on the floor, shaking and spluttering.

"Please I have plenty of money," he began to speak.

"I don't want your money," I replied coldly, "is James here?"

He nodded frantically.

He began to whimper. I took aim at his chest and fired leaving him to pass out as I moved on upstairs.

Then I heard a strange ringing sound and realised someone had just entered the lobby.

Maybe it was the police.

No time to debate.

I moved on upstairs to the second floor.

The second I reached the landing I saw a weasel at the end of the hall with his back turned.

Perfect.

I moved towards him quietly.

I was about to fire at him when he turned around smiling at me.

Someone picked up my wheelchair from behind and launched me out of the closest window.

… **(A/N – Third Person POV Temporarily)**

The weasel and the lynx shared a smug grin.

"How do you think he survived anyway?" the lynx asked in a gruff voice.

"No idea," the weasel replied in a French accent, "zee boss will want to know what's going on."

At that point the two of them stopped speaking. There was a strange sound coming from the smashed window next to them. They looked at each other nervously.

And then _he _appeared.

The turtle! He hadn't fallen to his death; he was hovering in mid-air with the use of his wheelchair.

"What the-"

The lynx didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Both he and the weasel were sedated.

The turtle landed back in the hallway wiping off the shards of glass and breathing a sigh of relief.

**(Back to Bentley's POV)**

That was close. Way too close.

I heard distant footsteps beneath me, probably the same person who had entered the lobby. I knew James was upstairs so it didn't matter who it was.

The remainder of the second floor was vacant. I hovered up the third floor to see quite a shock.

The entire third floor was one giant empty room. A panther was sat meditating in the centre, I'm not even sure if he knew I was there. I turned to the stairway to the fourth floor to see Quinton the gorilla walking down them.

"Bentley? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Why do you think?" I retorted as the panther stood up.

They both began to approach me when a blood curling scream echoed from downstairs and up to us.

The panther turned to me, "who else is here?"

"How should I know?"

I pulled out my crossbow as he began running on all floors but he leaped over me and made his way downstairs.

"Deal with him," he called back to Quinton, "I'll go check downstairs, we only have a few minutes!"

The Gorilla approached me slowly.

"Quinton, you don't have to do this," I said quickly.

"Now's not the time for a heroic speech," he replied, "James gave you the chance to live and you failed to take it."

I laughed at him, "actually he planned to have me buried alive but I escaped."

He stopped in his tracks, "he told me-"

"A load of cock and bull," I finished his sentence for him, "you really think when he's got his global dominance scheme in the bag he's going to keep his end of the deal to you?"

"James is nothing like your father," Quinton spoke at once, "I was never treated with respect by him. I was never given true wealth or power."

"There's more to life than money!" I yelled, "so much more! You're all blinded by it!"

I gave up and sedated him while he was contemplating was I said.

I hovered up the next flight of stairs, hearing another scream from downstairs which sounded very much like that panther. I got to the landing.

And there he was.

James.

His back was turned. He was staring at a giant screen, to his right there was a fireplace lit.

Again like the third floor this had been turned into one giant room. God knows what they had planned for them.

"You really are determined to stop me aren't you?" he asked, turning round to face me.

I fired a dart at him. It hit his shell and he simply pulled it out. Then without warning he charged at me. Grabbing the back of my wheelchair with one arm and laying into my face with the other.

In the struggle I began pressing buttons randomly on my chair. The Pick Pocket Pole started hitting him in the face (not that it helped). Then I accidently activated the hover pack, burning his feet.

The deformed hippo/turtle staggered to the floor clutching his badly burnt feet.

I swiped the credit card out of his pocket.

With a howl of rage he got to his feet and went to grab it back…

And I threw it the fire.

Seven odd billion euros had gone to waste. There was no way either one of us could go to a bank and request a new card; it was in my father's name. It would cause too much suspicion.

A big sacrifice.

But a necessary sacrifice.

"It's over," I told him calmly.

The look of rage turned into a smirking taunt as he checked his watch.

"It's midnight," he told me with a smile and without warning pulled me out of my chair and threw me to the floor, he then grabbed my wheelchair and flung it to the other end of the room.

Oh god… I was too late, even without the Empire's fortune; he could still leech of the collective government's money and start his New World Order.

He had won.

He turned on the giant TV from before. James pulled out his phone and put it on loudspeaker for me to hear.

"_Sir, the signatures of each nation should be coming in shortly. Nice work before by the way, your speech was inspirational. We're waiting for their decision now" _a man's voice drawled from the other end.

James began to laugh in triumph.

He stared at the screen eagerly then turned to me. "You ready to watch history be made?"

I lay there helpless on the floor. I tried in vain to crawl over to my wheelchair, but he just grabbed me by my leg and pulled me back over to the screen.

"How does it feel Bentley to have finally lost to me, after all these years of escaping death, it didn't matter," he laughed.

I didn't answer him.

"The New World Order," he said grinning, "everyone will be under the Empire's rule. Once they've foolishly given me control, they'll be no one to stop me."

"_Sir?" _It was the voice on the other end.

"What?" he snapped, "you're ruining the moment!"

"_You left the loudspeaker on. I'm afraid after hearing what you just said the nations came to a mutual agreement, the world isn't ready yet for a New World Order. Plus several nations with different laws has always worked in the past. That and you're a poorly disguised psychopath like your father before you and that wanted you to know that you have failed. Good day sir__.__"_

He hung up and I actually laughed.

James fell silent before a few moments.

Then without warning he began stomping on my face repeatedly.

He couldn't even speak because he was that angry.

By the time he was done, I was a bloody pulp. Both my eyes were bruised; my nose was definitely broken and bleeding profusely. Half my teeth had been knocked out and lip was cut open. My face was black and blue and I was spitting out blood.

I may have stopped his New World Order, but I was going to die, as simple as that.

He pulled out a knife and raised it above me.

I closed my eyes, hearing the sound of the blade slicing my throat and waited for the pain to start.

It didn't.

I opened my eyes to see Michael had slit James' throat and was holding him by the head as he bled to death.

That must have been him who had entered the lobby and attacked the panther from earlier. Plus I heard that worker of James' telling him his older brother had been seen lurking.

James turned to Michael his eyes wide in horror and then just like that he was dead.

It was over.

Or was it?

I stared up at Michael who approached me but that was all I remembered before passing out from blood loss.

…

"Bentley?"

That voice. It's so familiar.

"You okay?"

I opened my eyes to see Sly staring down at me. We were back at the safe house.

If that all turned out to be a dream I'm going to lose it.

"Why is your face all stitched up?" he asked concerned, "and also not to sound insensitive but where's the credit card? We need to stock up on me Cornish pasties."

"I was mugged," I lied, "the perpetrator was caught but burnt the credit card before the authorities could get it. I had to flee to the hospital."

"Can't we get a new one?" he asked.

"It wasn't ours to begin with," I explained, "remember it was my d- It was Wiseturtle's."

"Crap," was all he could say.

"Don't worry," I smiled with missing teeth, "we can start anew. Plus we need to find Murray. But first, we need a long deserved vacation."

To my surprise he smiled.

"Sounds like a whole new adventure," he said grinning.

"Believe me; I think I've had enough for one lifetime."

He laughed.

"I'm going to go find some asshole to rob off, take it easy, you look like you've been through hell."

"You have no idea."

He leapt out the window.

I stayed perfectly quiet for a few moments letting the events of Strasburg kick in.

Then I cried, uncontrollably, feeling humiliated about it.

I'd learnt some horrible truths:

That my Uncle was long dead.

That it wasn't even James' fault everything that had happened to my family. It wasn't even my dad's.

It was my fault.

James had said if I hadn't been born he would have been the heir. He would have never killed our mother or Uncle Seymour.

If I had never existed, they'd all be a happy family right now or at the very least not dead.

It was only now I realised the main problem in my life was me.

_**That was fun to write!**_

_**A lot of reveals as well, more so than any other chapter I think.**_

_**I am worried I've cocked up here and there or not explained properly, it all gets a tiny bit complicated during James' long explanation part.**_

_**Also please don't mention anything about Sly 4 to me (as random as that sounds) – I've been doing my best to avoid any spoilers since I still have to wait until March 25**__**th**__** till it comes out over here.**_

_**Thank you for reading my story.**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 17**

_Still no Sly 4 for me __ I've still got a few weeks to wait!_

_Also, the story is almost finished!_

_I think Chapter 20 will be the last one, the next one after this will be the summarised version of Sly 3 with Bentley dealing with his relationship with Penelope, his struggle with Sly and the aftermath, the nineteenth chapter will be about him starting a new life with Penelope and the last one… well that would ruin everything ;)_

_Again, please don't mention anything about Sly 4 to me, (even if Sly 4's plotline contradicts my story In anyway) sorry if that's getting repetitive but I've been waiting eight years for this game._

_Enjoy_

**Rock Bottom**

"You shouldn't be planning a heist on your birthday," Sly argued as I brought Power Point up.

"I'm used to it," I replied, "I'm sure you're just as fed up as I am living on nothing."

He nodded.

"Thought so, here's the plan."

The first slide showed a giant cruise.

"Haven't we already done this before?" he asked, "running out of ideas?" he grinned.

"Not at all. The last time we boarded a cruise that was only as a form of transport, this time we'll be pulling the heist off on the cruise itself!"

Sly straightened up, "sounds like fun! A holiday and a heist."

"I'd thought you'd like it," I said moving onto the next slide.

"Here's our target; Mike Okane, international drug baron and owner of the cruise. According to my sources on Thief Net, the man doesn't trust banks and keeps all his fortune hidden away in a safe on the cruise," I explained.

"No need to tell me where this is going," Sly said smiling.

"Don't get too relaxed. We'll be trapped out at sea among him and his guards, we need to stay on our toes," I warned him.

"Then how do we escape?" the raccoon asked.

"I'm getting to that. We'll board it from Paris a few days before Christmas, keep our heads down and deal with the security without attracting attention to ourselves, then on the New Year's Eve-"

"New Millennium's Eve," Sly interrupted.

"Is that what they call it?"

"I don't know," Sly shrugged, "to be honest I wasn't around a thousand years ago."

"Back to the point, we're going to make a play for the vault during the New Year's Eve party when everything's in full swing, then we make our getaway via lifeboat and dock off at Sydney."

"Why Sydney?"

"It's the last place Murray was seen," I answered.

Sly nodded again.

"Are we going to have to sneak around the cruise for weeks on end?" Sly asked, looking downtrodden.

"Not at all, Okane tries to make it look like his fortune has come from his Cruise Line and not from Drug Trafficking. I'm not too sure whether Interpol has cottoned on yet."

"Anything else?" Sly asked ready to stretch his legs.

"Yeah, don't repeat what happened last time," I said sternly.

"Oh, and what's that?" he said with a smile.

"Getting drunk every single day," I answered.

He paused for a second, "I won't except for Christmas."

"Agreed."

We shook hands.

We spent the first evening on the cruise dining in the restaurant closest to Okane's office.

"The guards outside his place change shifts every half an hour or so," I mumbled to Sly as I pretended to read off the menu.

"There are plenty of security cameras all over the place. Do you reckon you can hack into security?" he asked.

I stared at him, "did you really just ask that?"

He chuckled, "anything else?"

"Yeah, this is going to sound insane but I need you to swipe a lot of food over the course of the trip. I'll explain later," I added as he looked confused.

"Not exactly a master thief challenge is it? Now let's order!"

After a lovely dinner we headed back to our third class room and I explained to Sly the first small phases of my plan.

"Later tonight when the cruise is less busy we're going to start either knocking out guards or sedating them."

"What's the point? They'll wake up long before the heist and plus don't forget about all the security cameras," Sly pointed out.

"I'm planning to put the security on a loop feed later on so we can get that done undetected, as for the waking up problem well here's the hard part, we're going to have to leave them tied up in the room with us."

"What!" Sly nearly yelled.

"I'm sorry! That's why I asked you to sneak food, we'll have to feed them and make sure they're okay and everything."

The raccoon took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts.

"Won't it get a bit obvious? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm all for parties, but they're not the type of people I'd chill with it."

"Each time we stop at a different town or city we can hotwire a car in the ship's parking lot, dump a few of them in the trunk, find a hidden spot, sedate them and leave them behind. I've looked up Okane's holiday website, any people and that includes employees will 'unfortunately' be left behind if they fail to return at the right time," I explained.

"Sounds quite difficult," said Sly.

"Do you want to kill them off one by one then?" I asked rhetorically.

"What! Of course not!"

"Yeah, me neither. By the time it comes to the heist, they'll be little security left," I finished.

**(A/N – The next part will be from Sly's POV)**

The raccoon checked his watch as he hid in the shadows on deck.

It was 4:00.

Soon Bentley would radio in and tell him the security was on a loop feed and he could start capturing guards.

He froze as a guard with a spotlight strolled past humming to himself. The guard disappeared and Sly sighed in relief.

"Sly, the security's been dealt with," Bentley's voice crackled over the headset.

"That's great pal, but I've been thinking, even at this time of night surely someone is going to spot me hauling guards around the place!"

"Which brings me neatly to another point. I want you to steal the uniform of the first guard you knockout, the rest you're going to have to fool to come down to our room where we can deal with them quickly, understand?"

"Yeah, that sounds a lot of easier."

"Great I'll be waiting with my crossbow, good luck."

Just as he turned off the headset the same guard from earlier strolled past. Sly didn't hesitate and used his cane to drag the unsuspecting guard into the shadows.

A few moments later he walked out into sight wearing a snazzy white suit and red tie. He scooped up the flashlight off the floor and began patrolling.

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and keep an eye out. The wind picked up slightly then died down again. Then he spotted a guard in the distance.

"Hey! Hey!" Sly shouted.

The guard which turned out to be a cat gave him a sharp look.

"Who are you?" the guard asked as Sly stopped short in front of him.

"No time," Sly panted, "there's a fight breaking out down at third class."

"I'll ask again, who are you?"

"No time!" Sly interrupted, smirking to himself and ran off at full speed hoping the cat would follow.

"Now wait just one moment!" the cat yelled and gave chase, though whether it was because of Sly's story or because of Sly himself was uncertain.

_Ah, nothing like a good ol' chase to ease the mind _Sly thought skipping down the hallway as he heard the guard behind him. His room was just down the hall.

"_Bentley, I'm going to open the door to our room, then I'll run straight past, hopefully the guard will follow me, sedate him when he runs past," _he spoke quietly into his headpiece.

"_Roger," _replied the nasally voice down the line.

Sly slowed down as his room approached, turned the handle, gave it a gentle push and set off once again for a short distance.

Bentley watched through the small opening as the guard continued to chase Sly, then as natural as breathing leapt out and sedated him with one dart.

"That's one," Sly grinned dragging the sleeping guard into their room.

"I'll get the duct tape and restrain him, and then I'll work on soundproofing the room as best I can, we have about an hour and a half before the staff start setting up everything for breakfast."

**(A/N – Back to Bentley)**

"Please will you stop fumbling?" I asked the shaken cat as he attempted to free himself from the duct tape.

He gave a muffled cry for help.

"No, you see that's pointless, you're giving off (and this a rough guess) maybe sixty decibels each time you scream. Given the fact you're duct taped and the room's walls, floor and ceiling are relatively thick you're going to have to do a lot better than that," I advised him.

He attempted an even louder cry.

"Not bad, try hitting the high note a little earlier next time and hold it for me."

Not going to lie, this was hilarious.

"I don't know why you're complaining. We're kidnapping you. You know what that means right? No work! We'll feed you, keep you as happy as possible and then let you go!"

He gave me a puzzled look then shook his head.

"Would you like to watch some TV?" I suggested, "I bet there's one or two Christmas specials we'll both like."

Sly came back forty minutes later with another guard. Needless to say he walked in on a strange sight.

"I've always loved the first and second Home Alone," I spoke to the guard not noticing Sly enter the room, "the third was a bit of a let-down but to each his own I suppose."

I turned off the telly.

"Are you hungry or thirsty?" I asked the guard.

He nodded, looking less scared than he had been when we first caught him.

After giving the guards what they wanted we let them rest in the double bed.

"Looks like we'll be sharing the same bed," Sly said grinning.

"Don't you bloody start!" I said, although holding back a chuckle, "I won't put it past you to shag anything with a pulse."

**(A/N – FYI this isn't turning into a Sly/Bentley Slash Fic, they're just kipping in the same bed, okay? Okay.)**

I woke up in the afternoon to see Sly on Thief Net.

"What are you up to?" I asked.

"Just checking for any word on Murray," he replied, "none at all."

"Never mind," I said, "we need to move onto the next stage of the plan besides kidnapping more guards."

"Oh yeah and what's that?"

"Well I'm going to get us all some breakfast," I nodded at the guards who were watching us from the bed intently, "you however have a different objective." …

"May I help you sir?" the receptionist asked Sly, straightening his jacket subconsciously.

"Yes, I'd like to make a complaint," Sly replied, biting back a laugh.

The receptionist's lips twitched but he maintained his professional manner.

"Oh, and what would that be sir?"

Sly lowered his voice to a whisper, "well this morning, I was er- cracking one off..."

It took all of the receptionist self-restraint not to laugh.

"And you're telling me this sir, because why?"

"A maid walked in, without consideration, without even knocking," Sly raised his voice again, feigning outrage.

"I understand, may I have the maid's name please?"

"She ran off before I could pull me pants up, regardless I'd prefer it in future if no one walked into my room again for the remainder of the journey," Sly finished.

The receptionist straightened up, it could have been a much worse complaint, "of course sir, may I have your room number?"

"Bentley your planned worked!" Sly laughed entering the room to see Bentley feeding the guards bacon butties.

"You didn't crack up, did you?" I asked.

"No, well nearly, but they didn't notice, the good thing is no one will be walking in on our 'collection' anytime soon," Sly added nodding to the guards.

"I need to go toilet," one of the guards suddenly spoke up.

Me and Sly exchanged glances, we hadn't thought of that.

I planned quickly.

"Okay fine. Sly search him for walkie talkies or any form of radio contact. We'll untie you and then you can go in the bathroom and do your business the second you walk back out, you'll be re-tied or else I sedate you, understand?"

He nodded.

"This is going to become tiresome," Sly said wearily.

Eventually our room got a bit crowded. Although it was tense, there was no denying having an audience to listen to our plans was entertaining plus the fact they could do nothing to stop us.

Then on Christmas Eve the cruise stopped at a harbour in Asia.

"_**All passengers please note to get back to the ship before 6 pm or we will be forced to leave without you."**_ A voice bellowed out of the Cruise's speakers.

We'd spent the last night sneaking guards into a van we'd hotwired so we could leave them in a country and then we could start the process all over again. I'd tested the security loop feed and it seemed to be working perfectly, plus we had to sedate a few guards along the way.

"Do you think they'll check inside the van?" Sly asked revving the engine.

"Only on the way back inside," I reasoned, "by the way where did you learn to drive? Do you even have a license?"

"Of course not, I learnt from watching Murray from the passenger seat all these years."

"Good God. We are going to die."

Sly laughed and joined the cue. Surprisingly he didn't stall once and a few minutes later we were off the cruise.

"Where should we leave them?" Sly asked.

"We'll find a secluded spot," I replied, "don't forget we have six hours to do this." …

"…one more large coke. A big mac meal and a McFlurry as well please," Sly finished our ridiculously long order to the stunned Maccie's worker.

"This is just for the two of you?" she asked dumbfounded.

"We have friends waiting at home," I explained, forcing myself not to look in the back at all the guards who were hungry as well.

"Yeah, my bad, please go to the next window," she said.

Sly gave her a cheeky wink then turned to the guards in the back, "we're all chipping in so excuse me while I check your wallets."

After Sly was done making sure everyone paid evenly we'd left a massive cue behind us who were beeping and calling us every name under the sun. He approached the next window.

"Sorry, panicked for a second, thought I'd left my wallet at home," he grinned.

"That's alright sir," he replied and so it began; the long process of getting the entire order into the van.

We parked at the top of a lot and fed the guards there fast food as well as eating our own.

"It's half four," I told Sly finishing my last chicken nugget, "hey… where do you think Maccies get the meat and chicken from, actually where do all restaurants get there meat from?"

Sly gave me a strange look, "Bentley, what are you talking about?"

"In case you haven't noticed we live in a world full of animals. So I ask you again, where are they getting the meat from? Are they grave robbers? Murderers?"

Sly seemed to be lost in thought.

**(A/N – Seriously I've always wondered that about the Sly games, especially at the start of the second and third when it shows a few short clips of the heists the gang got up to, you can see Murray nomming on a cheese burger in one, where did the meat come from?)**

"Okay Bentley, what's the plan?" Sly asked.

"We phone the police saying we've heard muffled cries for help coming from this van give the location and make our way back to the cruise on foot," I explained.

"Sounds easy enough, off we trot then."

We made it back on board the cruise at half five.

"Welcome back sirs," a guard greeted us warmly.

"Thank you," I replied. Sly smiled.

"When are you going to phone the police?" he whispered as we made our way to Third Class.

"The second the cruise gets moving again," I mumbled back.

"Good good. You coming to the Christmas Eve party tonight?" the raccoon asked grinning.

"No, not really my thing you enjoy yourself though," I replied.

**(Back to Sly's POV)**

Sly had truthfully held his promise for the last week not to get drunk at any point during the job but it was Christmas Eve and rules were made to be broken.

_Right? _he thought to himself.

_Of course _another voice answered in his head.

Without any plans or objectives tonight he could roam free.

"Excuse me, do you have a lighter?" a squirrel approached him from the dance floor, lambrini in one hand and a mate on the other.

"No sorry," Sly replied grinning.

She giggled, slightly drunk, "do you wanna come dance with me and my mate?"

"Err- I'm a bit shy," Sly lied, enjoying the 'awws' he got given in response.

"Well do you wanna come up to our room?" she asked smiling.

"Err-," he knew where this was going but what would Bentley say?

He could just hear him now.

"Sly! This is inconceivable! We're on a job!"

That sounded about right. Then he looked at the girls again.

_Although _Sly thought _Bentley might not always think like that._

And sure enough another idea of Bentley's voice came to mind, only much more out of character.

"You go get them Sly! Give them one for me!"

_No that doesn't sound right _Sly thought _still Bentley's not here._

He made to get up, "lead the way gir-."

His voice stopped short as he spotted a fox from across the dance floor. She wasn't looking in his direction, her back was turned, and still he spotted the blue haired menace from anywhere.

Before the girls could look back he was gone.

"Bentley!" Sly yelled entering the room.

"Calm down! What's wrong!"

"Carmelita's here, I'm sure of it!" he babbled.

"How much have you had Sly?"

"I'm serious!"

Bentley sighed, "if she is here then either A) She's after us or B) She's after Okane, FYI he got a phone call from an Asian Police Station; he's told his guards that they're fired but I think he's slightly suspicious."

The raccoon calmed down, "okay what do we do?"

"I'd recommend leaving the rest of the guards till the New Year's Eve party and try to avoid going out too much if Inspector Fox really is here."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, it gives me great pleasure to be hosting the New Millennium's Eve party!" said Okane down the microphone to the party, rubbing his balding head.

An applause followed straight afterwards.

"I knew it would be called that," Sly whispered to me as we both clapped.

"Shut up."

"You're too kind," Okane spoke as the applause died down, "please enjoy the night and have a good new year," he said before leaving.

"Same to you," I mumbled. I turned to address Sly, "knockout as many guards as you can without drawing attention to yourself and meet me back in the room."

I rushed back to third class and turned my laptop on. I quickly entered my files and clicked back on the security feed, Okane was in his office talking to about a dozen of his men.

"Nearly all the guards have disappeared right under our noses!" he yelled at them, "someone's here on the cruise, something is not right."

They all shifted nervously and nodded.

"Sir, with all due respect we warned you our staff was disappearing a few days back," a weasel stammered quickly.

"Shut up! Keep an eye out for anything shady, got it?"

They all nodded.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go!" he bellowed.

They didn't need telling twice and quickly made for the door.

"Everyone except you two," he nodded at took burly looking Gorillas.

They nodded and stayed behind.

"I'm gonna check the vault, keep an eye out," he whispered.

He walked over to a bookcase behind his desk and pulled a book out slightly. I zoomed in on the security camera and the book's title said: 'My Life with the Eskimo' by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Something happened; the bookcase made a slight clicking sound and began moving forward. Behind it were piles upon piles of cash and a few kilos worth of white powder which I didn't need to guess what it was.

"May as well celebrate," Okane mumbled, racking white lines on his desk.

At that point Sly walked in, "hey pal, I've taken out a few guards around the more secluded areas but I was nearly caught. What's the situation?"

"Take a look."

Sly's eyes narrowed disapprovingly at the laptop.

"That's a good start for a case against him," he muttered.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be sending it to Interpol's website after we're done."

"Great, but how are we going to get him out of there?" Sly asked what I was thinking.

I moved the camera round the room, the guards or Okane didn't seem to notice.

Then I spotted an airvent directly above Okane's desk. Perfect…

"Erm- Sir?" one of the gorillas said.

"What?"

"There's a turtle in a wheelchair approaching your office doors."

Okane wiped the white powder of his nose.

"Tell him politely to get lost."

"If you have a complaint go to reception," the gorilla asked the turtle through the window.

"No one was there," the turtle spoke in a nasally voice, "please you need to hear this."

They all turned to look at him.

"Now," the turtle whispered into his headset.

"What is it?" the guards asked.

"There's a husky attacking guards around the cruise, I'm not sure what his motives are but I saw him last in first class."

Okane smiled, a small bit of powder fell out of his nostril.

"That'll be our man," he told the guards smiling, "go find him! And radio the other guards; tell them to search the ship."

The gorillas ran past the turtle who seemed to be grinning to himself.

"Thank you," Okane said to the turtle before locking his office door behind him.

But the turtle didn't budge he waited. The sound of someone snorting something came from the office and then someone collapsed inside.

"Told you my sleep powder would work Sly, now get out of the air vent and come unlock the door," the turtle whispered into his headset.

Sly and I grabbed as much cash as we could carry. Sly being cliché had brought along sacks with dollar symbols emblazoned on them like a Saturday cartoon crook would carry.

I pulled the 'Eskimo' book back slightly and the bookcase clicked again.

"Stand back Sly," I told him quickly.

In minutes we had all the sacks full to the top.

Sly laughed merrily, "back to the good life, I wonder how much is in here."

"Around about a million ringtail," a Hispanic voice came behind us.

Sly was right. Inspector Fox had been here the whole time, the guards were flanking her.

We were surrounded.

"Ahh, Carmy, Carmy, Carmy," Sly spoke grinning, "do you know what your little friends are shipping?" he asked nodding to the guards behind her.

He grabbed a kilo of 'white powder' and chucked it in their direction. It spilt out on the floor and for a few moments there was silence. Inspector Fox stared it for a few short seconds then looked at me and Sly.

"I'll deal with you two in a minute," she spoke, she then turned to the guards, "as for you losers," and with that she whipped out her shock pistol and began zapping them.

"Sly," I whispered, "strap yourself into my chair."

"What?"

"You'll have to sit on my lap," I explained.

"This is becoming more and more dodgy by the minute darling," he laughed.

"Just do it 'ringtail'," I hissed as Inspector Fox was still distracted.

He did.

"Hold on tight to those sacks," I said.

"Which ones?" he grinned.

I shook my head and activated my wheelchair's latest feature; the Adrenaline Burst.

I was careful not to hit them on the way out. Given by the distinct shout of "Cooper!" and an electric bullet narrowly missing us, it was safe to say Inspector Fox was following us as we entered the main party.

I turned round to see guards appearing from all entrances of the room as Carmelita chased us. They opted not to chase the makeshift rocket vehicle and tackled Carmelita to the ground.

"Get off me! I'm with Interpol!"

We made it to the top deck and found a lifeboat.

"I'll activate the winch, you get yourself steady," he told me as I hovered into the lifeboat.

The lifeboat started lowering and Sly leapt down to join me, the lifeboat rocked but didn't tip.

"And now we play the waiting game," he said, "also, just so you know, only two minutes till midnight!"

We were about fifteen feet from the water when the winch stopped.

"Typical," Sly muttered.

"With good reason," I said pointing upwards.

Sly looked up to see Carmelita staring down at him smiling and then without taking her eyes of him she pressed a button pulling the boat back upwards.

'You're mine,' she mimed at him.

"You know Bentley, getting caught suddenly seems like a lovely option," Sly said still looking up at her.

"Enough! Help me cut the ropes!" I yelled.

"Won't the boat tip on the last one?" he asked quickly.

"We'll cut the last two at the same time just hurry!"

As we hit the water I'd honestly thought we'd sunk. I opened my eyes to see Sly rowing like a madman, trying to make sure we didn't get pulled under the cruise.

And then fireworks went off, both from the cruise and from the city of Sydney in the distance.

"Happy new millennium Bentley, I'll only get to say that once, unless I end up like old Clockwerk," Sly joked.

"Happy millennium Sly," I replied.

We got at a good distance until the city of Sydney was quite close and the cruise was a safe distance away, Sly pulled out a bottle of wine from behind his back.

"I don't care how much you argue how 'manly' beer is, wine tests better," he said I opened my mouth, "plus it gets you drunk much quicker."

"I was gonna ask where you got it from actually," I replied.

"Posh snobby couple from first class," he answered drinking from the bottle, he suddenly stopped drinking, "either this is really good stuff or Carmelita is actually chasing us."

I turned round, hoping it was just a figment of his imagination.

No such luck. She's commandeered a lifeboat and was still chasing after us.

"She's really determined," I said, "come on let's get to Sydney quick, she can't be stronger than you when It comes to rowing."

Given the nature of karma and its extreme hatred for me; I was wrong.

She was gaining on us fast as Sly began to huff and puff.

"How is that possible?" Sly grunted.

"I have a theory."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. Inspector Fox is immensely determined to catch you, hence her fast rowing whereas you would most likely love another run in with her, hence your wussy excuse for rowing."

Sly actually laughed, "okay then, you've given me your theory Professor, what's your conclusion?"

To that question I activated the crossbow on my wheelchair.

"What!" Sly's face went from merry to anger within half a second, "we can't sedate her and leave her out at sea!"

"I know that! We're going to sedate her, go back and take her to the harbour with us," I explained, "Sly she'll be fine."

Sly looked over Bentley's shoulder to see Carmelita was about twenty feet away.

"You can't run boys!" she shouted.

"We're not running love we're rowing in case you haven't noticed," Sly piped up.

That remark just made her row faster.

"Okay do it," Sly muttered, looking slightly ashamed of himself.

I turned round and fired.

We tied the lifeboat to the one of the harbour's support beam.

"I'll be back in a sec," Sly said running off into the distance, "keep an eye on her!"

He reappeared several minutes later with a blanket and a fluffy pillow.

"Really?" I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I don't want her to get cold," Sly replied climbing into the lifeboat.

After a few moments he climbed back out. Carmelita was snoring slightly.

"Right let's go Sly," I said.

"Wait! I haven't tucked her in!"

"What's next? A bedtime story? Come on!"

Soon enough we were in the heart of the city, fireworks were going off all around us.

"They're not celebrating News Year Eve you know," Sly said to me, "they sense the great Sly Cooper has entered their city."

"Come on idiot, we need to go find the police files for any leads on Murray."

We could both tell the Cooper Vault Job was drawing nearer.

**And that is that. **

**Hope the die hard Sly/Carm fans were happy with this subtle chapter. As for the Sly/Bentley fans I'm sorry to disappoint. The Jean Bison/Sir Raliegh fans don't even start.**

**Thank you for reading my story.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 18**

_Okay, first things first, I'm planning to have the Guru speak English; it just makes life so much easier._

_Otherwise everyone should be used to this by now. _

_A watered down version of a Sly Cooper Game. Check._

_Dates and Locations so the audience don't get confused. Check._

_Random bits in between. Check._

_Last note, the last three chapters will be extra-long as a finale of sorts. _

_On with the show!_

**Consistent Heartbreak**

_**Paris**_

_**February 2000**_

I skimmed through the Thief Net daily, hoping to find any clue where Murray was. After hacking into the police files in Sydney it was safe to say either Murray had become a ghost or he passed through the place without being spotted.

I peered over my laptop screen as Sly slammed the door behind him.

"Bentley!" he called from the hallway, "I've got your lunch."

"In here," I shouted back moving the blueprints of Dr M's fortress and folding them in my drawer.

He walked into the room handing me coffee and a bagel.

"Any idea how we're going to break into the Cooper Vault?"

"I'll get to that in a minute," I replied skimming through the online forums, "you know a mob boss has started taking over Venice," I added quickly.

Sly started reading as well.

"I'm wondering why Interpol haven't got involved," Sly muttered.

"Read the bottom paragraph, the Don's got people paid off in every branch of media; nobody is any the wiser, except for this fellow Thief Net tourist."

I started scrolling through the pictures, wondering how to word out my next question.

"Sly, have you ever considered our gang expanding, more than just you, me and Murray?" I asked cautiously.

Everything went quiet for a few moments. I took a look at Sly who was still staring at the screen.

"Sly?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that Murray?" he said, nodding at the laptop.

I looked back at the laptop skimming through the photos and my jaw dropped.

It was definitely him, just what was he wearing?

He had leaves and strange symbols covering his anatomy along with a yellow cape.

"That looks really…" Sly paused for a moment, "aboriginal."

We looked at each other and smiled.

We'd found him.

Finally.

"Looks like we're going to Venice," I announced.

Sly nodded, "yeah, and about the expansion thing, I think you're right."

"You do? I wasn't sure if I was breaking Cooper Family tradition by expanding our team," I said laughing.

"Don't be daft, my ancestor Henrietta Cooper had dozens of pirates as part of her gang," he reassured me, "just how many more were you considering?" he asked a little more quietly.

"I don't know really," I bit my lip, "shall we say five to ten people?"

"Sound's reasonable enough," he said nodding then his face broke out into a smile, "think of it; my family inheritance lies just beyond that vault. This job will take precision, creativity and more obviously, it'll take an army of World Class Thieves."

"Or just five to ten people like we agreed," I butt in.

Sly started getting too enthusiastic again, "we'll need a main field man, brains, brawn-"

"Need? Sly do you know anyone with brains?" I asked him sarcastically.

"No, can't say I do," he added, he was failing to keep a straight face with me.

"Okay I'll rephrase that, do you know anyone who can make their own awesome wheelchair, hack into the toughest of websites and create explosives?"

"Oh yeah I do!" he piped up.

I smiled.

"The same guy that dropped his bagel on the floor several moments ago and still hasn't realised," he added smiling.

I wheeled back and checked the floor.

"God damn it."

_**Venice **_

_**February 2000**_

"Murray I never blamed you for my accident… No, no, that didn't work the first time," I muttered to myself in the mirror.

I looked out the window at the setting sun. Soon Sly would be back to tell me where to meet Murray.

Not going to lie, I'm really nervous.

I sighed and tried to think what to say him.

"Murray, you're the first real friend I ever had- No, that's way too cheesy," I groaned.

I moved over to the desk to grab a slice of pizza; food for thought.

I returned to the mirror and stared at myself.

Perhaps I could tell him the truth.

"Murray… listen, we're half-brothers somehow, don't ask! The only real sane family I have left. _Please _come back," despite the fact I only looking at my own reflection, there was a note of pleading in my voice.

Nonetheless I scoffed myself; I couldn't say that to Murray. It would just complicate what is already an extremely dysfunctional life.

I heard the door slam and realised Sly was back.

"Hey, Murray's going to meet you at Rialto Bridge," was all he said entering the room.

I nodded, took a deep breath and made my way to the exit.

_**Paris **_

_**February 2000**_

The three of us returned to the safe house late at night, more giddy and immature than ever.

I hadn't felt this way in a long time, but I was grateful that Murray was back and the three of us were reunited.

Sly had 'convinced' us to go to the liquor store on the way home and raid the place of Apple Snaps so we could have a marathon on 'Rocket: Robot on Wheels', a game developed by Sucker Punch.

"Set up the ol' Nintendo 64 Murray," Sly grinned pouring us glasses…

It had reached three in the morning and we were still playing the game. Each time one of us died we had to take a shot, needless to say Sly and I were close to passing out and Murray didn't even look tipsy.

"What I don' get is," Sly mumbled pouring himself another shot even though he hadn't died, "why don't Sucker Punch make a new game? I mean come on, it's been a year and they haven't even mentioned anything yet."

"Maybe their working on a whole new game series," I suggested.

"Well whatever it is I'm going to place a bet it sucks," Sly gibbered.

**(A/N – Can anyone guess what game Sucker Punch made next?)**

"I'll hold you to it," I grinned, "what's up Murray?" I asked. Even though I could barely see straight, the hippo looked depressed.

"Yeah come on pal, we're almost onto the last boss," Sly added.

The hippo sighed, "well- it's just- aw man!" the hippo cried out.

"What's wrong? You know you can say anything," I reassured him.

"It's just, I vowed to my Guru I would finish my walkabout and now look at me!"

"I know, drinking apple snaps and bashing the Nintendo 64, sounds like a pretty decent walkabout if you ask me."

"Sly, be sympathetic. Murray you know we could just go speak to him if it's troubling you that much," I reasoned.

"Really?" the hippo said, his eyes going wide.

"Of course."

We both nearly threw up as Murray scooped us out of thin air and pulled us into a bear hug.

_**Australia**_

_**March 2000**_

I was cringing as I watched Murray roll around in the radioactive oil.

"Sly! Look at me! I'm glowing! Woo!"

I cricked my head up so fast it hurt as a strange purple aura entered the safe house, it was like a purple haze.

When the smoke cleared up, the Guru was standing on the desk in front of me.

"Argh!" I screamed wheeling backwards so fast I nearly fell.

"My apologies, I do not mean you any harm," the Guru spoke.

"I know that, just try knocking next time," I muttered.

"I will consider it. In the meantime I think you would be a better thing to consider," the Guru muttered mysteriously.

I looked him in the face cautiously, "consider? What do you mean?"

"I can sense a great depression emanating from you. It may not be visible to the untrained eye, but the Dream Time can see everything," the Guru said dramatically.

Could he seriously see everything about me? If so then this was getting a bit personal.

"Hmm, did the Dream Time see you getting yourself caught and us having to come rescue you?" I asked a slight sceptical sound in my voice.

The Guru chuckled at my comment then put on a more serious face, "I sense great guilt from you Bentley. You feel responsible for the death of all your family, don't you?"

Time froze.

"How do you kno-"

"It doesn't matter that I know it. What matters is how do you deal with it?"

"I've gotten over it," I lied hoping his Dream Time couldn't pick up on that.

"No need attempting to deceive someone who is only trying to help," he said quietly.

I gritted my teeth. I seriously regretted entering this conversation altogether.

"Look, what you can 'see' is a bit private for me, so you'll understand why I'm not just spilling out all my life's secrets."

"Of course," the Guru muttered looking nervous for once, "sorry, usually students come to me for help. That was tactless, but please do listen to me; we can get through this together. You don't have to now," he added quickly seeing me open my mouth furiously, "but maybe another time after this business is over."

There was a slight pause. He had helped Murray go from guilt ridden to calm and peaceful. Maybe he could help me.

"I'll consider it," I replied slowly, "but-"

"Yes, yes I know. You don't want your friends to know about anything, that's fine. I won't say a word," he finished my sentence for me.

A short silence followed.

"Okay Guru," I said, my heart feeling heavier than usual, "I'll see you around."

_**Paris **_

_**March 2000**_

Sly and Murray were downstairs, still attempting to beat the final boss on Rocket: Robot on Wheels. I entered the guest room quietly and shut the door behind me.

"Evening," the Guru said quietly from the floor.

"Err- Hi," I replied, "listen, what are these 'sessions' going to be like?"

The Guru got up from his meditative stance, "we will be using a method that is called 'bridging minds'."

"Bridging minds?" I asked gulping.

"Do not be afraid. It's like a journey inside the head, you can relive past events and either reflect on them or search for answers you didn't see the first time round," the Guru spoke mysteriously.

"And we'll be the only ones who can see them or hear them?" I asked quickly.

He nodded and hobbled over to grab a chair so we could be sat level with each other.

"What would you like to witness first?" he asked.

"I don't know," I whispered.

I probably didn't know a lot of things about my family.

Then one came to mind.

"This 'journey' can only go as far as I've been born right?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I know this might sound insulting but it is like… an internet search?"

"I beg your pardon?" the Guru scratched his head.

"Can you search for memories from my past if I ask you to?"

That seemed to make sense to him.

"State what you want to see, have no fear and be ready for the worst," he spoke dramatically, swinging his walking staff and moonstone back and forth, he began muttering in a long forgotten language and nodded at me for my cue to speak.

"Anytime Michael was mentioned between my parents," I spoke clearly, feeling curious and slightly stupid.

I didn't expect it to work at all.

Neither did I expect for the room to become foggy. We were surrounded in a purple like mist.

"Please let the Dream Time decipher what you are after."

I jumped the Guru was stood next to me, watching the mist swirl around us. Part of me wanted to get out of the room.

"Don't be afraid. Just focus on what you want to know," the Guru spoke again.

I focused. Was Michael innocent? Was it even true about him killing a maid?

Come on. Tell me.

The shroud ended abruptly and we were suddenly standing in a room. It took me a few seconds to realise we were in my old bedroom when I was just a toddler.

My heart stopped, my mother was just a few feet away from me, crouching down over someone. I moved towards her quickly.

"Bentley don't," I heard the Guru say behind me. I ignored him.

I went to place my hand on her shoulder and found her to be intangible.

"These are only memories, we can't interact with them," the Guru spoke more sternly; "we could cause serious harm or drastically alter the future if it were possible."

I pulled my hand away.

"So?" I spoke quietly.

"So?" the Guru repeated confused.

"I asked for find out about Michael, what's going on?" I asked my voice rising.

"Bentley, we both know that's not why you're angry. You're angry because you can't touch or speak to your family and don't lie to me!" the Guru was starting to get cross, "we are here to learn," he spoke more calmly.

I took a few deep breaths and turned back to my mother, even more surprised than originally.

The little figure sat in front of her was me. I must have been about two years old give or take.

"Who's my little boy? Yes you are, yes you are," my mom spoke in a sing song voice to my younger self who giggled happily as he got given his Sippy cup.

A slow sinking feeling entered my stomach.

Why did you have to die when I was so young?

"There you are."

Even though he couldn't see me or hear me, I'm sure my father could feel my intense invisible glare at him.

My mother barely acknowledged the fact he had just appeared at the door, she seemed more intent on my younger self.

"I know it's been about ten years since Michael got sent to the asylum but it turns out the maid he murdered was that crazy woman who was posing as a babysitter so she could poison children," said my father without the slightest look of outrage of remorse.

I remembered reading the _Wiseturtle Legacy _back when I was seven in my private library when I was trying to find out about Michael. The author had mentioned the woman in a throwaway comment but they never realised the connection.

"Oh my god," my mother clapped her hands to her mouth.

"I know, the media will be all over it," my father added gritting his teeth.

Tears of happiness welled up in my mother's eyes.

"Does this mean Michael can come home?!"

"What?" my father asked sharply, then he began laughing to himself, "of course not!" he continued laughing.

The look of happiness faltered from her face.

"I thought-"

"You thought wrong," my father interrupted slamming the door behind him and walking straight up to my mother, "I already have someone to help run my Empire," he nodded at my younger self, "besides, I've advised the doctors to experiment on Michael as much as they like. He's the perfect test subject; a mute one."

My mother's jaw dropped.

"You- you heartless bastard."

I screamed and so did my younger self as my father grip my mother by the throat and pin her against the wall.

"What did you just call me?" he growled as she struggled to loosen his grip.

My younger self started crying, even if I was probably too young to fully understand what was happening at that time.

"Please," my mom spoke, her voice choked, "Bentley's crying."

"Don't you ever call me that again! Do you understand?"

My mother let out a choked cry for help.

"Sir?" Gautier had appeared at the door, "Sir!" he shouted.

He dived at my father and dragged him off my mother, putting him in the sleeper hold.

"Calm down. Calm down," he spoke firmly to my father.

Had it been anyone but Gautier they would have probably regretted attacking my father very much.

"Of course," my father spoke, getting to his feet and straightening his jacket, looking slightly embarrassed, "sorry Gautier."

"I'd think it would be best if you leave… sir," Gautier added, hardly keeping the coldness out of his voice.

My father left the room without another world.

My mother was a sobbing wreck on the floor, cradling my younger self in her arms.

"Here madam," Gautier spoke once again, not losing a touch of formality and he hugged her as she cried freely into his chest.

"I-I'm just so scared all the time," she stuttered, "he always treats Rob and James like nothing and I feel sorry for them. I want to leave, but he owns everything I have now. I'd have nothing if I fled with the boys… I can't do that to them."

"Madam, I'm going to have a word with him and I promise you he won't lay a finger on you again," Gautier spoke without a flicker of doubt.

"He w-won't listen to anyone," she sobbed shaking.

"Anyone except me," Gautier corrected her and he made his way out of the room quickly.

"I think it's time we go," the Guru spoke judging by the expression on my face.

The swirling purple fog returned once more. Then as quick as it had appeared, it was gone and we were back inside the guest room.

I tried to control my breathing.

"I'd never seen him do that before," I spoke in barely a whisper.

"I think it would best if we were to do this another time," the Guru said awkwardly, "your emotions are all over the place."

"Never again," I said and left the room quickly leaving the nervous Guru behind.

I slammed my bedroom door and turned the lock.

Why?

Why did they have to die?

My mother deserved nothing but the best.

So did Rob, Michael and my Uncle.

It's not fair.

What's the point in living like this with these thoughts in my head constantly?

I felt my anger rising as my father's laughter rang in my ears. Not wanting to waste another moment in this pointless rage, I pulled out of my crossbow and sedated myself.

_**Holland **_

_**April 2000**_

"You know, I don't think the rules allow people to dive out of their plane and start a fight with the Black Baron," the pink mouse said, though she didn't sound angry, more amused.

I was too transfixed to respond. Even if (like me) she had photo shopped her profile picture of Thief Net she was still gorgeous.

"And I don't think it's in the rules to fake your identity," Sly retorted causing the mouse to giggle.

"Err- who are you?" Murray asked. The Guru nodded.

"I'm Penelope," she replied smiling, "the newest member of your gang, and you must be Bentley?" she turned to me.

I struggled to find words and just nodded rapidly.

She giggled causing me to blush. Was she laughing at me?

"Come on, they'll be expecting at least someone at the Winner's circle, I have to admit this'll be the first time since I took over here I won't be taking the trophy," she sounded slightly bitter for a moment, "but you guys have proven me wrong," she smiled once again and I felt butterflies in my stomach…

That night, she graciously let us crash at her castle and explained why she had taken on the alias the Black Baron, due to the age restriction and the sexism displayed by the other teams, but according to her that was many years ago.

"There's two beds in one room and three in the other, I'm used to staying by myself but I don't mind," she said.

The guard behind her tightened his hold on his baton.

"Don't worry Augustus," she spoke to him, "these boys aren't stupid enough to attack me," she spoke with an air of confidence.

"I think I've learnt my lesson," Sly grinned, "never guessed you'd be an expert at hand to hand combat or own your castle for that matter."

"I've got plenty more tricks up my sleeve," she replied moving closer to me.

Was she trying to sound seductive?

Even so I felt a rush of jealousy was over me.

Sly liked Carmelita, right?

He wasn't just going to sleep with Penelope?

I debated frantically whether or not he would try.

Sly however picked up on what she was getting at and backed away casually.

"Me and master are going to do some deep meditation training," Murray shouted at the other end of the table, "you guys get the big room!" he grinned at me and Sly.

"Oh okay," Penelope replied, "Dream Time training?"

"Never mind," Sly replied before I could answer.

We half way through desert when-

"You enjoying your desert Sly?" Penelope asked, leaning closer again.

"Erm, yeah its great thanks," Sly replied absentmindedly.

I put my spoon back on the table.

"I'm going to go get some work done," I announced, not meeting Sly's gaze and left the room quickly, noticing the sympathetic looks I was getting from Murray and the Guru.

I shut the bedroom door behind me and seethed.

Why is he always the lucky one?

The only girl I've ever had is Rachael and she-

My thoughts stopped.

She's gone. I realised something as well. I think part of me liked Penelope because she looked similar to Rachael. They had the same blue eyes that mesmerised me. They were both mice of a German descent.

Was it sick to like Penelope partly for those reasons?

Then again I don't just like her for those reasons; she's smart, pretty even without the similarities between her and Rachael.

I sighed. Maybe I should just leave her alone. She clearly likes Sly anyway; I'll just stay out of the way and let whatever happens happen.

I felt a cold feeling of depression and sadness wash over me.

Never mind, I'll start working on my new invention…

Half an hour later and it was almost complete. I'd thought of this new software as an upgraded form of recon.

"Knock knock."

I turned around to see Penelope standing at the doorway. All thoughts and feelings of staying out of her way vanished completely.

"Hey," I replied smiling.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Just working on my latest and greatest invention," I said confidently, although the greatest part was definitely a lie.

"Oh! What are you creating?" she asked eagerly.

I'd forgotten she was the new tech expert.

"I call it the Grapple-Cam! Impressive huh? It can be remote controlled from my wheelchair and be used as an excellent source of recon," I explained.

"That's impressive," she nodded, holding the small object in her hand carefully, "I've fitted a camera onto my RC Chopper but this would be much stealthier."

"Thank you, that means a lot coming from a fellow tech expert," I hoped this compliment would go down well.

"Thank you," she said.

There was a brief silence. Had the atmosphere become tense?

"Well, we're all going to bed now," she said after the long silence became too much.

"That's fine, I can work on it tomorrow," I said, packing away all the gizmos into my bag.

"I call dibs on the middle bed!"

Sly had just walked in. I could see why he wanted it; it was the only one in the room that was double sized. The two on each side of it were singular.

I helped myself into bed. Sly sprawled himself out in the double one and Penelope turned the lights off and helped herself to the one last single bed.

The room was awfully quiet and after that last conversation I was quite eager to continue, maybe a science joke or two would help break the ice.

"Okay guys, here's a good one" I spoke sniggering to myself, "Two atoms are walking down the street. One says to the other 'Oh no, I think I lost my electron,' to which the other replied, 'are you sure?' 'Yes, I'm positive!'"

I burst out laughing to myself, noticing that Penelope had only chuckled for a few seconds and Sly had given off an awkward laugh.

I made another brave stab at conversation, "is sure is cold in here isn't it?"

I heard Penelope shiver in response, "don't remind me!"

I smiled to myself.

"Hey," Sly spoke up, "come get in bed with me, it's warm in the double bed," he laughed.

My smile dropped. Surely he wouldn't.

Penelope clambered out of bed and went to join him. I sat there in the darkness, leaving my imagination to decide what they were doing.

I heard Penelope giggle once or twice and Sly respond, but that didn't mean anything I hope.

I awoke the next morning, hardly remembering why I felt so depressed and then I remembered.

I turned to my side to see Sly snoozing, Penelope was long gone.

Without taking another look at him and got into my chair and left the room. When I entered there was still no sign of her or the Guru. Murray was teaching to chefs how to cook.

"Okay Mr Hippo I think I have it now," said one of the cooks looking hopeful.

He cracked an egg and emptied it into a bowl.

"Remember add a teaspoon of water into the mixture each time you add an egg," Murray explained, the chef looked confused, "it makes it fluffier!"

I smiled, "morning Murray," I said stifling a yawn.

"Morning brainiac chum!"

After adding two more eggs and one more spoon of water Murray began his next set of instructions.

"Okay whisk the omelette clockwise three turns, add one small pinch of salt, counter clockwise three turns, one pinch of pepper, three turns clockwise again," Murray spoke softly like the omelette required delicate work.

Surely this was a joke; the chef thought otherwise and began following the instructions perfectly.

"Excellent, all we need now is the cheese and don't you Holland folk hold back on me! I know you're the cheese masters," Murray said happily.

"We would have many to choose from," the chef said with a strong German accent, "which cheese would you want?"

"I'll sample a few," Murray replied excitedly.

Ten minutes later still no sign of Penelope and still no end to Murray's sampling.

"Hmm, I don't know," Murray said with half his mouth full, "the Gouda seemed nice, and then again the Edam was tasty although it was a little salty."

The chef was losing his patience, "sir, we are eating through all the cheese!"

"Correction; I'm eating through all your cheese."

Murray's comment (even though truthful) got us kicked out of the kitchen.

"Murray! Penelope has the graciousness to let us stay here and what do you do?"

"Sample cheese, didn't know it was a crime."

I groaned.

"Aw, come on! They said it was all you could eat in there," Murray argued.

"Or if they're serving you it's all they can make."

"Hey guys," Penelope had appeared from outside.

"Hey," I replied quickly smiling.

"Just so you know, I've planned the entire team a vacation here in Holland, we'll have plane trips, see the sights, and you guys will love it!" she said returning the smile.

"I'm sure we will," I replied in a hearty tone, although thinking about last night, I'm not sure how much more I could take.

_**Paris**_

_**April 2000**_

I tried to focus my thoughts on the work at hand but the images of Sly with Penelope kept seeping into my brain, making me clench my fists and want to snap.

I took a deep breath; we need a demolition's expert, one far exceeding my own talents or physical condition.

"Hey Bentley!" I heard Murray call from the landing, he was heading to my room and I knew what he wanted.

Immediately I leant back into my chair and pretended to be asleep. He entered the room, paused for a few moments and then closed the door.

"He's asleep," I heard him say downstairs.

"Oh," I heard a slightly upset voice and I knew it was Sly's at once.

The rest of them had broken out into chorus as I expected,

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sly, happy birthday to you."

They broke out into applause and "hip hip hoorays" as I sat up here sulking. Should I miss Sly's 21st? He sure hadn't of missed mine, he had even told me to stop working so hard…

I heard Sly's voice again, "thanks guys."

I knew him better than anyone and there was still a tone of depression in his voice. The guilt him me like a brick.

"Hold on Sly!" I yelled feeling overdramatic, "I'm coming!"

The raccoon seemed grateful I had 'woken up' and we celebrated into the night.

_**China**_

_**May 2000**_

"Look Bentley, I know I've asked this a thousand times already, but do you trust the Panda King?" Sly asked.

"Of course," I replied, not making eye contact.

That was a complete lie and I knew it. I was just as cautious as he was; only I was taking my anger out over Penelope by scaring him. A surge of guilt hit me but I ignored it.

We travelled further up the Kunlun Mountains. Sly and I were in front. The Guru was travelling on Murray's shoulder; the latter was talking enthusiastically to Penelope about the old team van.

"It was awesome! It had a satellite built in for constant radio control, recliner chairs, it was bullet proof, the tyres were too thick to be slashed," he babbled on excitedly.

I saw the Guru roll his eyes.

"Really, did you and Bentley design it yourself? It sounds like a work of art," Penelope spoke admirably.

"Err- no. It was made by someone else," Murray answered nervously. Four years and we were still tight lipped about the Empire, something's never change.

"Oh," Penelope, "did you steal it?"

Before anyone could answer she tripped on a rock. Sly having the master reflexes caught her just before she hit the ground.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, I am now," she smiled.

I forced myself to turn round and kept moving forward. I heard the Guru mutter something to Murray about a bad aura.

…

Whether or not he had tempted fate, Murray had somehow managed to retrieve the Team Van and brought to back to the safe house.

The fact that the van travelled out from Canadian waters and upriver into the Kunlun Mountains is beyond me. The only thing that matter now was connecting the cellular light battery.

"Need any help?"

I looked up already smiling at her.

"You might come in handy."

Damn, does that make me sound like I'm using her?

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

"Sly and the Panda King have dealt with the Vampire and Zombie crypts," she announced to the awkward silence.

"Brilliant, _my_ plan worked flawlessly," I empathised the 'my' part a bit too much.

That didn't seem to impress her.

"Also I brought you soup," she said, revealing a bowl out of nowhere, "you always looked starved and never seem to stop working, do you actually sleep?"

I laughed, "when you're an internationally wanted, world class criminal food and sleep become a low priority."

She laughed too and I decided to press my advantage.

"Hey, this is going to sound weird but can you feed me the soup whilst I sort the battery out?" I asked, she gave me a quirky look, "it's just I've got both my hands busy and I don't want it go cold," I added quickly.

"Sure, glad I could be handy."

I'm not too sure if being fed soup by your crush is romantic but hey I'm enjoying myself.

"Mmm, that's good sou- ouch!" I yelped as the battery connected into place and shocked me.

That was embarrassing.

"Come here," she said, "you've dribbled soup onto your shell."

That too was embarrassing but not the first time I've dribbled/drooled in the presence of my crush.

She grabbed a cloth and wiped it clean for me.

"Thanks," I said, closing the van's hatch, "this should be already for the getaway tomorrow."

Penelope didn't respond she seemed to be in deep thought.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She hesitated for a second then it all blurted out, "Bentley you're a good friend to me and have known Sly for a really long time, does he really like Carmelita?"

Great. Just when everything was going nicely she had to ruin things and friend zone me.

"Yeah, they've both liked each other for a long time, no one's going to get between them," I tried to make it sound like a throwaway comment but my rage was barely supressed.

"Oh."

She looked really upset and I felt pathetic.

"Listen I promised Murray I'd help him on his next job… I guess I'll see you later."

"See you later," I tried to sound normal.

She left and I banged my head against the van. God, I'm such an idiot.

…

"Help! He's really squeezing me!" I heard Penelope shout over the binocucom.

That dragon was going kill her!

I was shaking. I felt helpless. I didn't even care if it was me saving her.

"Sly! Get up there quick!" I yelled, "use those fireworks scattered around the area."

The next few moments were tense. All I could do was watch Sly propel himself up to dragon and continue hitting it with his cane.

_Please don't take her away from me_ I thought accepting the possibility there was a god.

Then I heard Sly's voice on the binocucom, "ready for an escape?"

"My hero," she replied.

At least she's safe. That's all that matters.

I raced back to the van just as Sly and Penelope were landing. I quickly turned to her.

"Penelope, are you okay?"

I didn't even get a response, the second we were on the ground she started hugging and kissing Sly who looked just as shocked as I did.

It was like I was invisible. Defeated, I retreated into the back of the cramped van and hid out of sight behind the Panda King and Jing King who were hugging each other.

Sly and Murray got in the front and I made careful note to avoid eye contact with both him and _her._

The raccoon seemed to notice this after the long journey and at one point his smile faltered when I returned it with a cold glare.

Penelope on the other hand was out of sight, the only person in front of me was the Guru who kept shaking his head at me.

"Hippo!" the Panda King suddenly bellowed, making us all jump out of our skins and Murray to swerve dangerously.

We all turned to him, "this is my sister's house right here," he turned to his daughter and adopted a much gentler voice, "you are safe now."

They got out and said their goodbyes. The few short minutes felt like hours as I could tell Penelope was trying to get my attention discreetly, probably because she and the Guru weren't really on speaking terms.

She went ignored.

Eventually we reached a hotel in Shanghai and I said we'd all be getting rooms individually. After handing out enough cash I left without another word and rented a room fast.

Inside my room I put all my bags down, unsure what to do now. I was seriously contemplating leaving the gang. I had the distinct feeling those two knew about my feelings and were just playing with them together for the fun of it.

Or were they just too ignorant to realise I had feelings altogether.

The door open, Murray walked in.

"You okay little buddy?" he asked me.

Luckily I had my back turned to him, "oh yeah, I'm just fine," I replied still not turning round.

"The Guru said you have negativity burning off you," Murray spoke quietly.

"Is he supposed to be Yoda or something?" I said, that koala is still interfering with my personal life, "tell your master the hate flows through me."

I heard Murray gulp and turned to face him.

"Look I'm sorry it's just," I paused, looked into his face and knew I could trust him, "it's just Sly and Penelope," too bad I couldn't trust Sly anymore.

He understood immediately.

"Look, we understand. Both me and Sly know you like Penelope," Murray started saying.

"Oh he knows does he? Thinks it funny to flirt with her in front of me," I said, my voice rising.

For once Murray looked angry at me. I think was a first.

"Okay," the hippo took a deep breath, "it's not Sly's fault that she flirts with him every five seconds, he likes Carmelita, and we both know that. You're just moody with everyone these days, I'm sick of it; I want my old friend back."

"Murray it's not-"

"Not what? That easy? That's funny I remember you saying you wanted your all old friend back to me a few months ago," he said, then seemed to regret it straight after.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "it's just you have no idea how depressed Sly is at the moment. He's fed up of Penelope flirting and you hating him for it, he's stressed this might cause the team fall apart, lose his best friends, fail to get at the Cooper Vault and never live up to his family's expectations and the worst thing he tells me is he thinks him and Carmelita will never be together no matter how much he cares for her."

There was a horrible silence straight after as I let that sink in. Murray left the room.

Several moments later, I was racing after Murray.

"What room is Sly in?" I asked.

"212," Murray replied, "but he's downst- Hey, wait!" he called but I was long gone.

I tried opening it and found it was locked. Several seconds later I had picked it and made my way inside.

Sly wasn't here. I sighed then noticed a book (over than the Thievius Raccoonus) lying near his bedside.

Feeling nosy I picked it up and realised it was a diary.

He has a diary?

I checked the front he must have got it in Sydney during New Year's Eve.

Some of the days were blank but the most recent one had been filled in, that was today:

_May 12__th_

_I'm really starting to think Bentley hates me and I know it's because of Penelope. I don't want to hurt her feelings but she can't take the subtle hints that I do not feel for her in the same way, those feelings are reserved for a certain inspector. The worst part is Bentley has always been like an irreplaceable brother to me (same goes for Murray) and I'm worried and stressed I'm going to lose him._

I noticed there were smudges on the page slightly like something damp had hit the page.

Wait. Had he been crying?

Had I really been that cold to him?

I felt like a world class ass and raced out the door only to run right into him.

"Bentley, what are you doing?" his confusion was innocence, not accusation.

"Sly, we need to talk," I said.

He gave me a sad look and I gave him a genuine smile which he returned uncertainly.

That felt so much better, but now was the time to get everything out in the open.

"Look I'm sorry I've been being nasty with you Sly," I started.

"No, I'm sorry Bentley, I've seen how upset you've been getting."

"No, this is my fault," I interrupted, "you didn't mean to hurt my feelings."

"I should have been more careful, the night in Holland, nothing happened between me and Penelope, it's just I was feeling lonely, I didn't even know you had feelings for her at the time."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

We hugged.

"Love lift us up where we belong," Murray had appeared in the doorway and had starting singing.

Sly grinned, "where the eagles cry, on the mountains high."

I shook my head at them then gave in.

"Love lift us up where we belong!" we all chorused.

Then the Panda King had appeared at the door his face expressionless.

_**Blood Bath Bay**_

_**June 2000**_

"I've never encountered such a powder capable of causing blindness that quickly," I admitted handing a wet flannel to Penelope.

"Me neither," she said scrubbing her eyes and placing her glasses back on tensely.

"Can you see alright?"

She nodded and looked like she was about to cry, then she hugged me and planted a kiss on my cheek.

I think my species changed to the Rare East Red Blushing Turtle.

She left the room smiling and I felt like whooping.

I entered the main room where Sly had stockpiled a month's supply of rum.

"Yo ho ho ho, a pirate's life for me," he sang to himself.

I laughed.

"This is going to be great!" Murray piped up.

The Guru was sat meditating with the Panda King.

"Penelope looked pretty happy when she left the room you were in with her," Sly noted smiling at me.

I touched the place where she had kissed me and smiled.

"You ready to steal a ship?"

…

The ship gained full speed as we left the mouth of the harbour. I got up on deck to fully appreciate the clear ocean around us.

"Follow this map Murray," I said handing him said map, "hard to starboard."

"What?" he asked confused.

"Make the boat go that way a little," I said pointing right.

"Aye aye, captain."

Below deck Sly was already drinking Rum.

"We're going to be at Dagger Island in about half an hour, just a rough guess, so go easy on that," I told him smiling.

The Panda King cleared his throat, "do we all have a separate task?"

"If the boat starts to flood, patch up the holes."

Dimitri could barely contain his excitement, "Granpapa's treasure! Only half an hour away!"

Twenty odd minutes later we encountered our first problem.

"All hands on deck!" Murray called enthusiastically as Sly and I raced upstairs.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Pirates directly in front."

"Sly get on those cannons, Murray try to zig zag as best you can," I opened the hatch, "guys, get ready to patch up the incoming fire."

The Guru transfigured himself into a long piece of reinforced steel.

"Err- good thinking," was I all could say.

"Fire!" Murray yelled.

My ears drums popped as the battle began.

I got upstairs and used my hover pack to narrowly avoid an incoming cannon ball.

"Their aiming for our mast," I cried out, pulling out my crossbow and zooming in to sedate their captain.

It worked. The other pirates scrambled over each other to take control. Sly ran along the length of the boat unleashing each cannon.

"Send them to Davy Jone's Locker," I yelled, getting a bit too into it.

"Sounds promising, believe me," Sly said grinning, "but I have a better idea, Murray?"

"Get ready to board Sly," the hippo seemed to have read his mind.

…

An hour later we returned to the ship with Dimitri's diving gear.

I felt devastated.

The Panda King was waiting on deck for us, "you appear to be short one member," he announced.

Before I could speak Sly was speaking, "Lefwee kidnapped Penelope, change of plan gang, we're not heading to Kaine Island just yet, we need to rescue her."

Feeling sick I went downstairs.

I headed to the main office below deck. The Cooper Van was snuck on board earlier and was taking up most of the room so I clambered inside and got my laptop out.

We needed a plan. Poor Penelope, what would those pirates do to her?

Why is it everyone I ever care about either dies or is always in danger?

What did I do to deserve this?

...

_**The coast of Somalia **_

_**July 2000**_

I watched helplessly as Penelope and Captain Lefwee fought head on in a sword fight.

That girl had not been kidding when she said she had tricks up her sleeves.

"Smartest man of the seven seas," I heard Lefwee defiantly say before plunging into the shark infested waters.

Then I heard someone jump down from the mast. They were running over to me. Before I could even speak, before I could even draw breath, she (Penelope!) kissed me.

I don't know how long that moment lasted, but by the time I opened my eyes the gang had reappeared around us, Sly and Murray's faces were a picture.

"Let's take this elsewhere," I whispered to her.

She giggled and climbed onto my lap and with that we were off.

_**Kaine Island **_

_**August 2000**_

Okay, the first attempt on the Cooper Vault had not gone to plan.

I hovered over the small river and set a bomb on a support beam to help Sly across.

"The boat's just up ahead!" I called out to him and then a monstrosity appeared.

Not just Dr. M but a giant chimera like creature.

I screamed as it grabbed me in one arm and brought me to level with its mouth.

"Argh! It's gonna eat me!" I wailed as Sly desperately tried to hit Dr. M forty feet below me.

The pain. The crushing. My wheelchair was squeezing down on my shell and I struggled to breathe.

Time seemed to slow down and distort. Everything blurred and became irrelevant.

Was I hallucinating?

I was looking up at a blinding light. It had been night time a few moments ago but now, nothing but the light and then to my eternal disbelieving amazement three figures appeared from the light.

My mother, Rob and Uncle all of them were looking healthy and happy.

How could they be real?

Was this truly the end for me?

Whether they were real or not, something about them told me to accept my fate. Why bother fight when I could just perish peacefully, the only thing left was to save Sly.

"It's not working," my voice was still panicky, "save yourself!"

Sly however had none of it, "if he wants to eat. Eat this!"

His cane flew directly into the beast's jaw and it dropped me. I activated my hover pack and lowered myself down. Despite the fact we were in mortal danger I looked back at the sky, no sign of them or the blinding light.

"Bentley come on! What are you doing?" I heard Sly's voice.

I looked up to see the Beast taking another swipe for me, before it could Sly dived in front of me and now it had him.

"Sly! No! Hold on Sly! Hold on!"

…

Murray carried Sly into the boat's one bedroom sobbing at his friend's unconscious form.

"Don't worry," Penelope attempted to console him, "he just needs his rest. Bentley are you going to go tend to him?"

"Yeah. Everyone get back to the ship. Our first attempt failed," I said bitterly down the binocucom then closed the door behind me.

I felt like crying and Sly's laboured breathing didn't make it any easier for me.

What if he died?

I did the only thing I could do, talk to him, "Sly," I spoke quietly, "I hope you can hear me pal. Just hang in there okay? We're going to have another crack at the Cooper Vault but later you understand?"

No response.

I held back tears.

"Do you remember when we first met at the Orphanage? And I didn't trust you whatsoever," I let out a weak laugh, "look where we are now eh?"

Still no response. What if he passed away any second. Then it came to me, the only thing I felt I should do, that I should of done thirteen years ago.

"Listen to me Sly, do you remember that man called Wiseturtle from all those years ago, he took me you and Murray in, made us adoptive brothers and all? That man was my real dad."

It felt weird finally saying this in front of him.

"Do you remember that vigilante in New York? The one we were hunting? That guy was my Uncle, it was the only reason we went there really."

"Do you remember the terrorist attacks in Paris? I only wanted to help because I knew my brother was there, I tried to help but he died."

I took a deep breath.

"Do you remember when you found me all stitched up and beaten after coming back from Hawaii? I'm sure you know the Wiseturtle family were famous for being in government. I had to fight my half-brother pretty much to the death to stop him from creating a New World Order."

"Murray and I are half-brothers (not even he knows that). I've been hiding these disgusting secrets from you and Murray for the last thirteen years," I took another deep breath, "you have no idea the pain, the shame and guilt it's caused me, it's just I feared (like my family) you guys would abandon me if you found out, I'm sorry."

I spun round and made to leave the room.

"Just so you know, you're as just as much as a brother to me as any of them," I left.

…

Sly just lay there shocked from what he had just heard.

Had Bentley been lying?

No, it was all starting to add up.

The years of feeling like he was always hiding something.

He lay there stunned, not knowing what to do next.

_**One down. Two to go.**_

_**I know the ending seems major, but the rest of Sly 3 is skipped.**_

_**If anyone is really that curious, then Sly and Bentley do meet again, don't worry. **_

_**I just feel if Sly and Bentley started arguing about the confession during the second Cooper Vault job it would just alter the plot way too much.**_

_**In my eyes Sly was intending to ask Bentley about it later but had to flee with a certain Inspector as the Cooper Vault collapsed.**_

_**Thank you for reading this extra-long chapter and expect more **___


	19. Chapter 19

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 19**

_Second to last chapter._

_Just so you know the Time Machine explanation is pretty much bogus. I'd looked into it a bit and got confused so yeah. _

**Picking up the Pieces**

"I'm gonna miss you little buddy!" Murray sniffled a little, pulling me out of my wheelchair and hugging me.

"Same here," I replied sadly, "you promise to write and tell me how the racing career goes."

"Will do little buddy!" he said before picking up his luggage and walking out the doors.

And with that he was gone, and it was just me and Penelope.

The Panda King had left first telling us he needed to get back to his daughter. He only took a small sum of the Cooper Vault's fortune.

The Guru had left second, he had no interest in money or treasure and left to New York telling us he had grown fond of travelling around the world.

Dimitri had been a problem. He was not happy with receiving a quarter of a million in money, when Murray got more.

I had to point out Dimitri had only pulled three jobs for us whereas Murray had pulled at least over a hundred. If it hadn't been for Penelope and the hippo himself standing behind me while Dimitri argued he probably would have tried to mug me.

"Does it feel weird?" Penelope asked.

I frowned at her.

"Without the guys," she added.

"Well… yeah," I replied, "it's been depressing without Sly for the last few months and now Murray's gone."

She sat down on my lap and cuddled me.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

The weeks passed by and my life had taken a relaxing turn. There were no more heists or jobs needed to be pulled. Just a fortune and an eternal vacation.

However Penelope started to notice things I didn't.

Apparently I looked depressed all the time.

Sometimes I would pull a horrified expression out of nowhere like I was re-experiencing a bad memory and the worst was the sleep talking apparently.

"What do I say?" I asked laughing.

My laugh faltered as her expression looked grim.

"Well… it's bad," she said slowly.

"What exactly do I say?" I asked starting to feel nervous.

"You want me to say it word for word?" she asked anxiously.

I nodded.

She sighed then spoke in a flat voice, "alright this is what you said – 'mom I'm so sorry, please come back!' and 'I'm so sorry, I never meant for any of you to die!'."

She stopped short to watch my expression. I was stunned. I tended to take my minds of things like that these days, but was my subconscious more aware of that than me.

"Look, I really think you need to see a psychiatrist, if this is what your subconscious thinks," she said gently.

I looked into her eyes and sighed.

"Fine," I spoke finally.

After countless tedious therapy sessions I was finally done and I'd apparently receive my 'results and diagnosis' in the post.

In all honesty there was only thing I'd learnt from my therapy sessions. In order to ease my psyche I didn't need to 'get over' the loss of my family and 'move on' like my therapist said.

Instead I needed to do the impossible.

"Penelope?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"What would you say if I said let's build a time machine?"

"I'd say you were crazy," she answered laughing.

"What would you say after a little research and experiments?"…

Wormholes.

Wormholes are a curious thing.

Scientists believe it might be possible to travel through space and possibly time if one was to travel through it.

The only problem for me was how could I duplicate the effects of a Wormhole on Earth?

"This site is vague," Penelope answered my question, "it says it might be possible to create one with strong electromagnetic materials but that's it."

I sighed.

"There's a site which argues if it was possible to create a Wormhole, we could actually control when and where we travelled by moving the angle of the hole itself," Penelope spoke up.

"How could we move a worm hole even if we did create one?"

"It's theorised a manmade one could be held in an electrical field binding it into place, if we wanted to move it we could just move the apparatus holding it in place."

I took a deep breath, "well at least we know how to contain one, now the harder part, how to create one."

"Look, if we do the impossible and you know manage to create a space and time anomaly or something along those lines, we need to make sure we don't alter the past or anything, we don't know what could happen," she told me.

I nodded. My face was expressionless.

After a few days of going nowhere we both agreed to take a break from it.

We were really getting fed up and moody about it.

So I moved onto the next task in mind, which was finding Sly.

It was reaching midnight and I'd finally managed to pull a Trojan Horse on Interpol's website.

I'd started searching through the entire database. I found the Cooper Gang files straight away. Although we were no longer their top priority.

I scrolled down to find Sly's status as 'DECEASED'.

No.

He couldn't be.

I spent the next few hours searching for anything on him or Inspector Fox. I should have told him everything about my family to his face, now it might be too late and he'll never know what I was hiding from him.

Then I found a headline:

**Undercover Constable Cooper Returns to Duty**

_A man who has been undercover for most of his career._

_He put his life on the risk each and every day working for a mad man._

_Constable Cooper was finally relieved of his undercover duty when Inspector Carmelita Fox helped him escape from the crumbling fortress of Kaine Island. _

_Whilst many law enforcers don't seem to remember him, Inspector Barkley (a higher up in Interpol) assures the media he couldn't have a finer man for the job._

_Sadly the Constable suffered some injuries whilst escaping and is currently recovering from amnesia._

_Also on a lighter note Constable Cooper and Inspector Fox have started pursuing a relationship together, much to the displeasure of many male officers working under her._

I stared at the picture at the bottom of the article and felt like whooping.

It was Sly. Maybe the officers at Interpol couldn't see through his disguise, but I was used to them by now.

Word of advice. If you ever wanted to catch Sly, don't look for his appearance, look for his expression.

I had to admit the cover story was quite well done. I had a feeling only Carmelita and Barkley were aware of the truth with "Constable Cooper", they could have of changed his last name though.

I yawned and opened my curtains. The sun was already up.

No way. I can't have been on the laptop for that long.

I heard the letter box open and close and made my downstairs.

I never got post.

Two letters who on the doormat, one with a stamp from New York or other was unrecognisable.

I opened the New York letter first to find it was from Murray.

There was a picture of said hippo cheering with a golden trophy on a race circuit with a team of men behind him.

He must have won his first race.

There was a message on the back on the photo:

"_Hope you're doing well. The New York circuit has been awesome!"_

I smiled. At least things were going well for him.

I opened the second letter. I groaned; it was from my psychiatrist.

"_Mr Turtle,_

_It is urgent we meet as soon as possible. Overall these are __some__ of the syptoms you display:_

_Dormant Post Traumatic Stress Disorder._

_Survivor's Guilt – (The most severe case I've ever diagnosed.)_

_Abandonment Issues._

_I feel it would be more appropriate to discuss the rest face to face. _

_Thank you for your cooperation,_

_Dr. Emilie."_

I put the letter in my desk. That could wait as a last resort. I had a much better plan than therapy.

"Does it work?" Penelope asked anxiously.

I stared into the greyish white mass being held in place by an electrical field. When I looked into our portal it felt like it was looking into me.

Was this anomaly capable of taking me through time and space?

I could walk through it now. Maybe I would simply pass through it with no results. Or it would suck me into nothingness or who knows where.

Of course that would be irrational. I was first going to test it with an apple.

"I've altered the angle of the wormhole by fifty five degrees," Penelope spoke quickly, "hopefully this time we'll get results."

I took that as my cue and threw the apple into the portal. To my disbelief it sucked it in.

I looked at Penelope in shock and back at the portal. At the other side of the room behind it there was nothing. No sign of an apple.

"It's gone," I gasped, "w-where do you think it'll reappear?"

"If we did our math's right and these physics are accurate then one hour into the future back in this room."

**(A/N – I know this is becoming more unbelievable by the second, but truth be told I don't understand space and time travel, sorry.)**

So we waited and waited… and waited some more.

Eventually we had to make conversation.

"My parents called the other day, they said they want to meet the man who's 'dragged' me round the world with me on a whim," Penelope laughed.

I gulped, "your parents?"

"Don't worry they don't bite."

"Don't your parents own that castle in Holland? Or is that just the Black Baron's?" I asked grinning.

"It's theirs," she replied, "but they don't know about the 'Black Baron' and I'd rather they never did."

"I understand," I said firmly, "when are we going then?"

She smiled, "my mother insists we take her private jet on New Year's Eve."

"Private Jet? Wow."

"I know, just so you know we'll be having dinner with my Mom, Dad, Auntie Clara, Uncle Augustus, and my cousins Robbie and Rachael…"

"Eureka!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry?" she asked.

"The apple! It's returned!"

She looked down on the floor to find the apple, still ripe and unscathed.

"Did we just solve space and time travel?" she whispered.

"I believe we just did," I replied.

Then there was silence.

And then cheering.

And speechlessness.

I stared over the Castle's balcony watching the guards patrol the grounds. I could vaguely make out the wolf which we'd used during the ace's competition; it was lurking in the trees.

What did I call it again?

Oh yeah, Lupis Gigantormus.

Suddenly a bell went off around the castle. I moved back inside Penelope's room.

"What was that?" I asked Penelope.

"That'll be the chefs telling us dinner is ready," she replied.

"Again, wow."

She laughed.

"How do I look?"

"Like a million dollars!" I replied.

She raised her eyebrow.

"Sorry, bad saying and technically its euros isn't it?"

She took a deep breath, "remember to be formal and polite, and please don't mention you're an internationally wanted criminal."

"I'll try not to let it slip."

I entered the dining room nervously. Straightaway I could tell the blonde couple were Penelope's parents. They watched me curiously and I smiled at them uncertainly.

There was another couple who had to be the Auntie and Uncle, they were smiling at us. A little boy was sat next to the Uncle, must be Robbie, the girl called Rachael wasn't here yet.

I sat down awkwardly and the blonde male reached out his hand.

"You must be Bentley, I'm Penelope's father," he said loudly as I shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you sir," I replied.

"What is it you do again?" the mother asked me.

"I'm a scientist," I replied.

"And what exactly have you discovered as a scientist?"

"Mom, you wouldn't believe us in a thousand years," Penelope laughed.

They all gave us questioning looks but didn't press the matter as the chefs walked in serving out the starters.

"Still no sign of Rachael," Penelope sighed.

"You know what she's like," the auntie said smiling, "thank you," she added to one of the chefs.

"Hurry up!" barked the uncle making them jump.

"There's no need for that," I mumbled.

That was how my Dad would treat his work staff.

We stared at each other for a few moments then started eating.

The starter was lovely, I'm not a big fan of roast dinners but hey at least they served chicken gravy.

"So…" the Uncle spoke after a long silence, "you avoided the question earlier. What exactly have you discovered?"

I stopped eating and looked at Penelope.

"Do you reckon I should be blunt?"

She gave me a resigned shrug.

I took a deep breath then without a flicker of a smile, "we've discovered space and time travel."

The table went completely quiet then the auntie excused herself. Outside the room we heard an outburst of laughter.

"What does he mean daddy?" the little mouse called Robbie asked.

"Is he lying?" the uncle asked Penelope, smirking sceptically.

She shook her head.

They still had disbelieving looks.

"Daddy?" Robbie asked.

Still no response.

"Look you don't have to believe us," I said and Penelope nodded, "besides what does it matter if you do or don't?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Uncle asked.

"Probably what I just said. It doesn't matter what you think," the words had escaped my mouth before I could even think.

"Well I never!" Penelope's mother spoke up outraged, but I wasn't paying attention, that little kid Robbie was still trying to get his dad's attention.

"Daddy?" he asked softly, "daddy?"

The Uncle was staring at me, not even noticing his son. God he reminded me of my father…

"Daddy?"

"ANSWER HIM!" I screamed making everyone jump.

"STOP NEGLECTING YOUR CHILD!" I yelled.

Penelope looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her up.

"How dare you raise your voice in the house of Bartonschmeer!" the father said, getting to his feet.

But only word registered in my brain there.

Did he just say Bartonschmeer.

No, it can't be.

Then the Auntie returned, completely unaware of the argument that had just happened.

"Everyone Rachael's here," she said delighted.

And Rachael walked in…

Time stopped for me.

They were cousins.

They had the same eyes.

Both were from a German descent.

And both were mice.

"Rachael this is Bentley," the Auntie introduced us.

She stopped and stared at me as I did the same.

"Bentley?" she asked softly.

"Is it really you?" I asked.

Her innocent expression turned to rage.

"Mom, Dad, everyone, do you remember when I was living in Paris and I met a nice boy from school?"

Her parents nodded.

"I went to his Orphanage for a day and the place was attacked by arsonists and that boy left me to die and I never saw him again, this is him," she finished gravely.

Everyone looked at me in shock.

"I would have saved you," I said nervously, "my brother he dragged me out of there."

"You never told me you had a brother," Penelope said quietly.

"Nor me," Rachael added, "he's lying I bet."

"I think you should leave," Penelope said, blinking back tears.

I looked at anyone for help.

"GO!" Rachael shouted.

So I did, as fast as I could. I was already outside the castle and making my way through the dense woody part.

What had just happened?

Everything I had just collapsed on me.

I kept moving, as far away from anyone as possible.

And I'd decided I was using the vortex.

I was going to ignore the rules of cocking up time.

And I was going to stop all my family from ever dying.

_**Only one chapter left to go.**_


	20. Chapter 20

**Family is Forever**

**Chapter 20**

Feels like a lifetime since I started writing this. It's mad.

I'm so glad I put my ideas onto paper instead of leaving it in the back of my head.

I may have been over exaggerating about the last few chapters being longer as a finale. It might not be the case, sorry. I just don't want to throw in random bits that don't make sense.

My last ever warning to you guys, the rules to time travel in fiction aren't exactly written in stone so things might get a bit confusing.

Enjoy

**Back to my Roots**

My head swayed from side to side as I downed the last of my vodka. It wasn't normal for me to drink, but let's be honest, alcohol is the way we delete things in our memory.

I rolled up the familiar drive way and read the golden plaque through my blurry vision:

_'This location was once the home of the famous Wiseturtle Family, as such the remains of the manor will be left untouched as a testament to the tragic loss of such notable celebrities whose bodies were never found._

_William Wiseturtle_

_Born – April 13__th__ 1939_

_Died – August 17__th__ 1986_

_Margaret Wiseturtle_

_Born – August 25__th__ 1940_

_Died – August 17__th__ 1986'_

I stared into space bitterly. The last time I had come here I'd met my father again, and from then onwards my life had gone downhill and led me to this.

I moved inside. The intoxication was hitting in and all I could feel was anger.

I thought of my mom.

"Come back!" I yelled to myself, "please!"

Of course there was no response. There never would be.

I spotted something red in the rubble and pulled it out. It was my old Elmo teddy bear. I hugged it quietly because who else did I have?

Somewhere in the midst of things I passed out.

When I woke up my head was pounding. I looked up in disbelief to find Michael staring at me.

I screamed and quickly began backing off, but he just stood there and stared like he always did.

If he really was a psychopath then why had he not killed me yet?

Then I remembered when the Orphanage had been petrol bombed by James and Michael had dragged me out of there. He must have had the opportunity to kill me but didn't. He probably also had plenty of opportunities in New York when I was with my Uncle. Then he protected me from James, he warned me that the deformed hippo/turtle was after me and killed him when he was about to kill me.

I felt so stupid. Maybe I had been wrong about him the whole time. What if he never meant to hurt me? And couldn't tell me since he was a mute?

"Do you want to hurt me Michael?" I asked him softly.

He lunged towards me and I gasped, until I realised he was hugging me. My insane brother was hugging me. Yes I was covered in dirt and blood from Michael's clothes and yes I was still slightly scared but he didn't want to harm me, I still had someone who cared about me.

He let go and my urge to carry out my final plan grew stronger.

"Don't worry Michael, everything's going to change I promise you," was all I said before leaving.

I was still sobering up as I watched Sly and Carmelita dance under the moonlight on their balcony together. At least someone got their happy ending.

Without warning Sly turned in my general direction and winked.

"That sneaky devil," I said grinning to myself.

Even better! The amnesia was a false story.

Moments passed. Eventually Carmelita returned inside and Sly was left on his own, he looked in my direction again and gestured for me to come over.

I set off my hover pack and made my way over to him.

"Don't worry she's taking a shower," he informed me as I landed.

I nodded, "glad to see you still have your memories Mr Cooper."

"Same here Mr Wiseturtle."

A horrible silence followed.

I gulped.

He smiled.

"You know me and Murray would have never ditched you, no matter how many secrets you had," he said, breaking the silence.

I didn't respond.

"Why did you never tell us about your dad, or uncle, or your brothers?" he asked.

"I didn't want you to ditch me," I replied, staring at the floor in shame.

"I would never," said Sly in such a firm tone I nearly cried.

"I betrayed your trust and Murray's," I added, still not daring to make eye contact with him.

"We'd always forgive you," he said, making me look up with teary eyes.

Words couldn't describe how I felt.

We simultaneously hugged each other, maybe for the last time.

"Goodbye, Bentley," he said.

"Farewell, Sly," I replied.

"Bentley? You there?"

I ignored the phone, even if it was Penelope.

"Why did you never tell me about Rachael?"

I wanted to pick up the phone and scream – "I thought she was dead!"

But I didn't, instead I kept working on the wormhole. If I did my math right and I always do my math right, I should end up in 1978.

"Listen," Penelope's voice hardened, "if you're thinking of jumping into that wormhole you're insane and I'm coming to stop you."

She hung up.

Damn. I had wanted to go and see Murray, just one last visit, but now I'd have to leave it before she came and stopped me.

Never mind, if I'm successful the future will alter itself and Murray will grow up with parents.

I finished my changes to the wristwatch I had converted as a way of getting back to the present and double checked I had all the essentials.

Everything was set.

I adjusted my helmet, took a deep breath and jumped straight into the wormhole.

And then there was nothing. I was just floating along in well… nothing really.

And then I emerged into some reality to the sounds of a woman screaming.

"Dave! Come quick! There's a man in our house," she cried.

I was too groggy to react at first.

"Wait!" I shouted.

There was a mole and a rabbit staring at me, brandishing kitchen utensils.

I activated my hover pack and fled out of the nearest exit. I landed on a rooftop and looked back. It was the safe house in the past! Looks like I didn't do my math right. I was supposed to end up near the gates of my old home.

If I had the destination wrong, did I get the year wrong?

Not wasting another second I activated my adrenaline burst and raced to the heart of the city.

The Manor still took my breath away as I approached it. I watched as a black limousine entered the driveway. The paparazzi were scrambling at the gates as my dad's personal army kept them at bay.

I felt a rush of hatred as he got out of the limo and smiled at the press before walking inside the mansion. I used my binocucom to scope out the manor, maybe if I saw Rob or James I could work out what year it is judging by their age.

I nearly dropped the binocucom.

I could see me!

I remembered this day. It was August 1986.

I did have the option to use my wristwatch and return to the present, but it's possible Penelope could have destroyed the portal by now so I wouldn't be able to return to the past for a second time.

And who knows how long I took getting here.

A new plan was in order! My original plan was kill myself whilst I was in the womb. I know I sound insane but it's for good reason. If I never existed then James would be the next in line for my dad's empire. That way he wouldn't kill my mom. He wouldn't kill his dad so Murray would grow up with parents. He wouldn't have to kill a fly; he'd have exactly what he wants.

James was right; so many people would benefit from me not being born.

Well I could still kill my younger self. That would still work.

All I needed was to get a job at Wiseturtle Manor and then I'd get the opportunity…

"… and that is the end of your induction Mr Cooper," Gautier announced, "do you have any questions?"

"No, you've covered everything for me sir, thank you very much," I replied, "where do I begin?"

I ended up working with Valentine (Rob's old friend). We were instructed by Gautier to the clean the main dining room. I watched my family and my younger self eat their Sunday dinner.

"I think that tables polished enough," said Valentine.

I looked down to realise I'd been scrubbing it for the last ten minutes. I had to admit it was weird talking to Valentine. I knew when and where he was going to die, it was a horrible thing really, and especially the fact it might be risky to tell him. I stopped cleaning and turned to round to look at my mother, her happy smiling face as she spoke to me and Rob. She had no idea she was going to die in a few days. Valentine gave me a strange look when I started wiping my eyes.

"… my favourite son," I heard my dad say.

James left the room quickly in a right foul mood. My mother and Rob followed swiftly.

"It's my break now," I lied to Valentine.

I found Rob rolling a joint in his room. He moved hastily to hide it as I closed the door behind me.

"I don't care about that," I told him, "you should just ignore your dad by the way. Focus on your mother; she deserves all the care in the world."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked, trying to find a lighter.

"Oh no one really," I replied airily.

I was about to leave the room when I remembered.

"It's important by the way you're not in the mansion the night your dad's party happens," I added.

"Did he say that?" he added, sounding bitter.

"Don't think Bentley has it easy being your dad's favourite," I said, "he gets upset thinking you'll start to hate him."

I remembered the last words Rob had said to me before his death.

He nodded slowly, "I know it's not his fault and I love him regardless. Besides he doesn't need to tell me to leave, I'll do it gladly."

I watched as my mom and dad argued. Gautier broke them apart and my mother rushed off. I followed her quietly, she looked really upset.

She entered a vacant living room (I remembered we had many) and broke down crying.

My next gesture would be strange to her but it didn't matter.

"Don't worry," I said hugging her, "just ignore the dick. Your children love you, remember that."

She actually returned the hug, "that's very sweet, who are you?" she asked sniffling.

I didn't answer at first, not because I was struggling for an answer, I was caught up in the moment; I'd forgotten what it felt like to be hugged by my mom.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

Someone who loves you, more than you'll ever know.

"Just a strange stranger," I replied, forcing a laugh.

At that point Rob entered the room.

"Mom what's going on," he asked quickly, glaring at me, "why are you crying? What's he done?"

"He's doing nothing, he's quite lovely," she defended me, "just your father being his usual self."

He nodded and a sad silence followed.

"Don't worry guys! I have an idea!" I said smiling broadly at them both.

We had a fun night of playing random board games. Quirky, but it did cheer them up.

But now it was time to be serious. Chances are this would be the last act of my life or existence.

My old bedroom door creaked slightly as I entered it. My younger self slept soundly. It was strange, I couldn't bring myself to kill my father or James, but I had no problem in committing was is arguably suicide.

I deployed my crossbow from my wheelchair and steadied my aim.

At least my last act would be for a good cause, potentially saving lots of lives, it was the way I'd always wanted to go really.

I fired.

Nothing happened.

I double checked that everything was in order. The bolt was in place, nothing seemed broken.

I tried again.

There was no result.

"What are you doing?"

I spun round to see my dad staring at me.

"Oh hi," I replied with a sarcastic smile and chucked a trigger bomb in his direction, (if I'm going to end it all one way or another I've decided I'm taking my dad with me… and James if I can manage it.)

I attempted to pull the trigger. No result again.

Well then time to scare him with my knowledge.

"Tell me Mr Wiseturtle, do you and your little empire plan to go underground after James sets the mansion on fire?" I asked, not only trying to scare him but slightly curious as to whether or not he had always known this would happen.

He chuckled and his smile didn't falter, "and you are?" 

"I'm the man who brings down your little empire, you and then James's."

I really shouldn't have said that.

He didn't take me seriously anyway; instead he began laughing his head off.

Since he was distracted I made my way to the window and opened it, then I activated my hover pack.

His smug expression changed into sheer amazement as I elevated off the ground and flew off into the night.

I sat at the park I'd remembered going to with Sly and Murray when we were younger. Penelope's voice rang in my ears:

"_There's this theory called the Suicide Paradox. If one was to invent time travel and attempted to kill themself in the past then it wouldn't work. It makes sense, if you killed yourself when you were younger how would you ever have invented time travel?"_

I kicked myself mentally for not realising this probably would have never worked.

I needed a new plan. I remembered Penelope theorising it would be possible to change the past incidentally instead of doing it directly, which probably will never work.

For example, if I pointed a gun at someone and pulled the trigger in the past, it would either malfunction, or the slide would get caught etc. Whereas if I lured someone into a place where I knew an earthquake would occur or a bomb would go off (since I was from the future) then maybe they could die.

It might work, it might not. I'm here for a reason so I may as well try.

But first I needed to do something else first. A promise I made to Michael.

**(A/N – The next part is in third person.)**

Anyone would admit the old asylum in the woods looked creepy. The place had a bad reputation. Back in the days when having a mentally ill family member was shameful this place was honoured since it rarely helped its patients recover and they'd never have to see them again. More of a prison which William Wiseturtle made sure didn't get shut down.

Why? Because his oldest son was trapped there.

But that was decades ago and nowadays people were more morally grounded.

Dr Lector strolled down the corridor. His favourite patient Michael Wiseturtle was the perfect guinea pig, he could experiment any new treatments on him (usually painful) and the man couldn't cry out for help as he was a mute.

"Oh Michael," he said grinning entering the patient's cell, "I have a new formula for you. My client Arpeggio recommends this dose of spice and steroids will achieve the desired effect."

Michael attempted to break out of his restraints. Recently he'd been able to (the steroids were used to dilute the liquidised spice formula, the most obvious side effect was an increase in strength), however he would always be surrounded quickly and injected then he would awake in his pitch dark room again.

Suddenly a frantic woman's voice spoke down the speakers.

"_Dr Lector! We have a break in! There's a turtle in a wheelchair! He's blown up the cells and the patients are escaping! He's taken the videos of the camera footage of what we're doing to the patients! He's sedating all staff-"_

A chill ran down Dr Lector's spine as the speakers went deadly silent and then…

"_Dr Lector?"_

That wasn't the nurse's voice. It was a nasally voice, it sounded almost nerdy.

"_If you can hear me I want you to know I'm coming for you. I'm going to hunt you down."_

The doctor could feel himself trembling. Was this God's judgement? he thought for a brief second.

"_Ready or not here I come," _said the nasally voice once again before the speakers went dead.

The doctor froze up. Michael stared at him, his face too dirty to make out an expression.

He sealed the room and hid under Michael's bed. Surely this turtle wouldn't come looking in here.

He heard another explosion.

And then another.

And another.

They were getting louder, almost like they were getting closer.

And then silence followed.

The doctor's heart almost stopped when he heard the door down the corridor open, the sound of someone whistling. Then he saw the shadow of a wheelchair approaching Michael's room.

For a few short seconds everything went quiet again. The doctor dared to look out from under the bed and regretted it immediately.

A turtle in a wheelchair was at the door. And he was staring right at him.

"Please," the doctor begged as the turtle aimed a crossbow at his face.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" the turtle asked.

"I'll do anything," the doctor reasoned, trying to gather his dignity.

"Okay then," the turtle said, "inject yourself with that crap you force Michael to take."

"The spice formula?" the doctor asked shaking.

"Yes," the turtle replied shortly.

For a few seconds nothing happened. The turtle took a glance at Michael who was still struggling at his bonds. He was a state, obviously uncared for, and he could see needle marks all over his arms where the doctors and nurses had not so gently injected him.

The turtle looked back at Lector with a burning look in his eye.

"WELL?" he bellowed.

Lector looked at the formula and back at the turtle.

"DO IT," the turtle yelled cocking his crossbow to scare him, "RIGHT NOW."

The turtle inwardly was amazed with himself for being so cruel for once in his life.

Whimpering and muttering to himself the doctor found a vein and injected himself.

The effects were noticeable straight away. The doctor began writhing on the floor in pain.

The turtle in the wheelchair released Michael and with that he left.

Dr Lector crawled feebly watching the turtle escape in the distance. He heard Michael behind him slowly approaching him.

He let out a final wail of despair.

After forging a fake invitation I entered the Wiseturtle Manor. Tonight it was August 17th. The night that my family got torn apart.

Hopefully by the end of tonight, both James and my Dad will be dead and my mom will get to safety. I might live, I might not, the first priority is making sure my Mom, Uncle and Rob live and the other two die.

I watched as my younger self and my uncle left the manor. The urge to intervene was too strong.

"Oh sorry," I pretended to stammer as I crashed into my uncle's legs.

"That's okay mate," he replied.

I pretended to get a proper good luck at him.

"That is one awesome moustache!" I said.

He laughed, "you think so?" he asked absent-mindedly stroking it.

"Oh I know you, you're one of the best cops in Paris," I said smiling.

"Why thank you," he said grinning.

There was an awkward silence as I really didn't know what to else to say.

What could I say?

'Oh hi I'm your nephew from the future, I want to talk to you because I miss you.'

At least if I alter the future he might not die.

"Well good bye," he said.

"See you."

The party was only for the social elite kind of people. I definitely looked out of place but oh well; I didn't come here to be praised for my appearance.

I spotted my father speaking with his men and moved in closer to eavesdrop.

"… James will probably act soon," said one of his men quietly.

"That's fine," my dad replied yawning, "as long as he gets rid of her," he nodded at my mom who was sat drinking to herself quietly.

I had the sudden urge to find a blunt object and beat my dad to death but A) some strange rule of time would probably stop me and B) if that didn't, his men certainly would.

"Also Michael's been found, he's been sent to a new asylum," one of his men whispered, "you know what that means sir, he'll get proper treatment and you'll have to take him back."

My father grinned to their shock. "Not at all, by the end of tonight I'll be presumed dead."

They all nodded.

I forced myself to move on; I moved over to my mother, she noticed me straight away.

"It's you again," she said.

"Yeah, erm- listen, something really bad is going to happen tonight," I said, trying to think how to explain.

"Like what?" she asked either amused or disbelieving.

"Look, just please get yourself out of here," she gave me a weird look as I was practically begging her.

"Get lost," she said looking freaked out by me, "you're trying to get me leave but you're not going to explain why?"

"I can't."

She walked off.

I gave a resigned sigh and went to go find James. I'd drag her out if I had to, but that would only be a last resort.

I watched from above a nearby balcony as James and his men carry copious amounts of gasoline into the manor. I mused for a second what would happen if I stopped them but the fire was necessary. Maybe the best chance I had for killing my dad, James too if I had the opportunity.

"Light the flame then flee," James ordered them, "I'm going to go find my dad, you lot get back to the safe house once you're done."

And with that James was gone. I left too; the fire would be starting and spreading. I didn't have much time.

I found my mom still sat by herself.

"You need to get out of here!" I told her.

The smell of smoke reached my nostrils.

"Oh for god's sake!" she said nearly laughing then stopped abruptly as smoke began to filter out from the back of the house.

She took one look at me and realised I was telling the truth.

"Oh my god! I have to find James!" she cried, running off.

At this point, people had started to notice and were fleeing. I activated my hover pack and soared above them.

Most of them didn't pay too much attention to me. They were too busy running for their lives. The fire had reached us by now.

I was still in mid-air, searching for my father.

And I spotted him, casually leaving with his men.

He looked up and seemed to recognise me. I strapped myself into my chair.

Fear was visible on his face as I flew directly towards him. I grabbed him with all my strength and we both went flying out of the main ballroom and into a vacant room where the flames were spreading slowly.

I held my crossbow and aimed it at his face. It probably wouldn't work on him due to the strange paradox but he didn't know that.

"Look I can give you money," he told me calmly.

"I don't want your money," I replied. Just a little longer and we'll be trapped.

"Then what do you want?" he cried out, "what did I do to deserve this?"

"Explaining would take way too much time," I said.

"Ha! I found you!"

I turned round to see James had entered the room, he looked at me, "who the hell are you?"

Perfect.

I pointed the crossbow at him and then back at my dad when he tried to flee.

"Either of you try to run you get a dart through the back of your skull. Understand?"

The manor around us was beginning to crumble.

I smiled. For once in my life things were going to end in my favour.

This was all going to end perfectly until…

"Help!"

My smug smile fell of my face.

That was my mother's voice.

"Please someone help!"

I chucked my crossbow at James.

"Feel free to use it on him," I nodded at my dad and quickly went to go find my mom.

"Where are you?" I shouted.

"In here!" I heard her voice; she was trapped in the main lobby.

I entered it to find the exit had been blocked by flames. We were completely surrounded.

I saw my mom cowering on the floor and went to help her up.

"I'm so scared," she cried, holding me.

I took my wristwatch off.

"Listen, take this please, it'll get you to safety," I told her realising I wouldn't be able to escape without it.

"What do you mean?"

"Just wear it and press that little button. Once you're out find Rob and Bentley, and you can all live out your lives together."

She was either too scared or too confused to co-operate.

"Look please mom," I begged her, tears rolling down my cheeks, "please take it. I don't want you to die."

"Mom?" she repeated in barely a whisper.

"Please just take it," I said crying.

Slowly but surely she took the wristwatch with shaky hands.

"Just press that button," I said my voice shaking, "I love you."

She did and vanished.

Everything seemed to go quiet for a second in my head and then I was laughing, uncontrollably.

She was alive.

She was safe.

I looked up as the ceiling groaned. I sat there with the most honest smile I'd ever had since my family had been alive and well.

The ceiling collapsed.

The End.

_**Well that's it guys. End of the road.**_

_**I'm sorry if anyone was disappointed by the anti-climax or the cliff hanger but I really couldn't decide how to end it. It's really up for debate I guess. I'd much prefer it that way.**_

_**Well this story's done but maybe I'll come up with some new ideas at some point and return to fanfiction.**_

_**I'd like to thank each and every one of you who reviewed or sent me a pm. No matter how little, the inspiration always helped **___

_**So long and farewell**_

_**For now at least**_

_**Anarchyturtle.**_


End file.
